The Phoenix Reborn
by Ithileon
Summary: When SG-1 travels to Celestis to confront Adria, they don't leave empty-handed. Once again, rated for slight use of profanity.
1. Chapter 1

**When SG-1 travels to Celestis to confront Adria, they don't leave empty-handed.**

**Thanks to anonymous reviewer Incognito for bringing my attention to the state of the Ori galaxy post Ark. I have adjusted the plotline accordingly.**

**2006, Stargate Command, Tau'ri Homeworld**

With the Ark successfully weakening Adria and the Ancient Morgan le Fay engaging her in eternal combat, SG-1 thought that was the end of it. They'd never have to deal with the Ori again, Origin would collapse or change, and the Ori galaxy would slowly advance in technology. Right?

Wrong.

Murphy's Law was in full play before the Odyssey had even left the galaxy. The Priors shared a telepathic link via staff. Said connection spanned both the Milky Way and the Ori galaxy, including the Doci. The Doci's exposure to the Ark would be transmitted to the Priors, thus showing them the truth and ending their belief. The human followers of the Ori did not share the same insight as their evolved priests did, and were confused and angry by the Prior's sudden change of belief. This revelation caused a dangerous split in opinion. Side A consisted of the Doci and Priors, all of whom knew the truth about the Ori's claim to divinity. Side B consisted of humans who feared the Priors had become corrupt by their constant contact with legions of unbelievers. Side C, easily the largest, thought the Ori were testing them. They pledged their allegiance to a new leader, a leader who hadn't been corrupted by the poisonous lies the Ark had spewed. Sides B and C were really the same, leaving the Priors badly outnumbered.

In summary, all planets under the banner of Origin were facing civil war.

If that wasn't bad enough, Daniel, ably assisted by Merlin, had used Adria's feelings for the former against her. And because fate loved screwing them that much, Daniel and Adria's relations hadn't been a few nights together. They'd conceived. The result of their union was hiding somewhere in Celestis.

Vala was mad at Daniel for sleeping with her daughter, but she was furious with Merlin for encouraging it. Sam understood that; she wasn't feeling the warm fuzzies for the Ancients either. What was surprising was Tomin's reaction. He ripped into Daniel for being so callous with Vala's feelings, for deceiving Adria, and then for betraying her. After ripping into Daniel for not being around to raise his child, Tomin went to track down his errant granddaughter, at which point Vala broke Daniel's nose with an impressive right hook and started shouting anew.

Two hours of scouring the city later, the Doci returned levitating a beautiful wooden blanket chest, Tomin close behind with Daniel's kid. Nobody was sure what to say when 3 members of SG-1 plus Tomin returned with a little girl, introduced by Tomin as Eve, so they kept their mouths shut.

"Go in peace" the Doci had said, and Sam couldn't help but scoff at the blasé farewell. Knowledge of Daniel's daughter would not bring peace. If anything her presence was a harbinger of war. As Adria's daughter, Eve was assured a place of leadership among the Ori faithful upon reaching adulthood. As the last naturally born Ori hybrid, Eve was the sole survivor of a dying race. Countless people would hate her, not for what she'd done, but for what she was, for who her mother was, for what the Ori had done. Sam tried not to think about possible kidnappings, sacrifices, or assassination attempts that some would be willing to attempt. Ironically, countless others would worship her for the same reasons people would hate her. This time Sam gave some thought to it. The Ori's human followers would not willingly accept the loss of their gods, so long as even one of them survived. She almost pitied the kid, having hoards of people loathe or worship her simply for existing.

In the end they had one choice: Eve had to go with them.

Though it was breaking Tomin's heart, he elected to remain behind.

"I have to try and convince others of the truth," he explained when asked, "Perhaps I can stop any future bloodshed."

Eve whimpered, hugging him for what might be the last time.

"Te amo avo. Vade in pace."

"I love you too Eve. And don't worry, I'll come visit as soon as I can."

Eve said nothing. In fact, in the three days it took the Odyssey to traverse 2 galaxies, Eve hadn't spoken a word to anyone. No one was sure what to say to her either. Sure, they'd just defeated a dangerous enemy, but said enemy left behind an innocent child. It didn't seem fair to celebrate while Eve was hurting, so Sam and Teal'c volunteered to get her off base until the partying died down.

They spent the weekend at Sam's house deeply concerned about Eve's lack of age-appropriate behavior. She ate when they provided food but never looked for more, she slept through the night and napped in the afternoon, but she never wanted to play, never wanted to talk, never wanted to interact with them. Sam honestly would've preferred Eve being angry, destroying things and yelling at them, because her complete apathy made Sam feel guilty. Scratch that, it made her feel like dog poop scraped off the bottom of somebody's shoe. Pond scum ranked higher in Sam's mind than Sam herself did right now. Teal'c too felt bad for Eve, but unlike Sam, he rarely spoke to her, instead simply remained nearby in case she needed reassurance. She never did.

While Dr. Lam tried to examine her Monday afternoon, Sam watched Eve. The kid looked about four, though she was really a little over two. Her skin was fairer than Adria's but darker than Daniel's. It looked like she'd have her mother's figure as well. In fact the only thing she appeared to inherit from Daniel was her eye color. Everything else was Adria, right down to the I'm-questioning-your-intelligence look she gave Dr. Lam, who had yet to pierce the personal shield around Eve. Adria's pendant was a little large for her, but if she started aging faster it would fit in no time.

"Could you deactivate this? I need to draw a little blood."

Sam wondered how you could look down on someone who was taller than you, but Eve didn't seem to have a problem with it. Eve shook her head in answer and closed her eyes.

"You have to deactivate it so I can draw blood." Dr. Lam insisted, more firmly this time. The shield remained.

"Carolyn." Sam interrupted, "It's fine."

Dr. Lam wanted to protest, wanted to say that she needed a sample of Eve's blood to test for diseases, that she didn't have any basic data aside from height, weight, hair and eye color, and that Eve needed a number of inoculations, but glancing at the girl again, at the look of defeat her body gave off and the baleful expression on her face, she decided to back off.

"Okay. Maybe later."

Sam offered her hand to help Eve down, but it was slapped away. She was clearly unhappy, and being here wasn't helping.

"The general assigned some family quarters so you and Daniel can bond."

Eve remained silent.

"He can be stubborn at times, but once you get to know him he's alright."

Eve shot her an irritated look, but didn't reply.

"You're two, right? I mean you were born two years ago?"

_I am._

"You look like you're four."

_I am._

" . . . Okay then. You don't talk like a four-year-old."

_Is this a problem?_

"No. It's just, unusual, for a kid your age to speak like someone older than they are."

At this a trace of amusement entered Eve's voice, but what she said gave Sam chills.

_I am not speaking._

_And now she can read minds. Lovely._ Sam blinked, shook herself, and continued walking, "Your quarters are this way."

Daniel's new quarters were more apartment-like, and one of several on the base that were reserved for offworld ambassadors.

"Looks like the man of the hour hasn't moved in yet. Probably hiding in his office. Hey, if he or Vala tries something stupid, come find me or Teal'c okay? We'll set 'em straight."

Eve rolled her eyes and gestured toward the door. Once the blonde Tau'ri had left, Eve grabbed the pillow on her bed and _screamed_ into it. Then she gathered her anger, her grief, and her pain and released it in a telepathic pulse that soon encompassed the entire base. Unfortunately it didn't overwhelm them for long, the most people felt was a second or two of Eve's mourning before returning to their pervious jubilance. No one paid her any heed, because no living soul could hear her.

_Mama . . . MAMA!_ Eve cried, listening frantically for an answer. When none came, she shrieked aloud, crying late into the night until curling up on the bed and falling asleep.

Sam checked on her about ten o' clock, covered her with a blanket, and went to find Daniel.

Daniel had little help moving into his new quarters, since he didn't have much to actually move. The hinges of every door had been oiled so Eve didn't wake up, and Sam closed the door of the room Eve had gone to sleep in. Once Daniel's belongings had been put away, SG-1, sans Vala, tiptoed back out and locked the door behind them.

"What now?" Cam asked quietly, glancing backward once.

"I have no idea." Daniel replied with a sigh, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes. He didn't. Of all the women he'd been close to, intentionally, drug- or pheromone- induced, this had never happened. Now he was a father, a father to a girl whose age he wasn't sure of, but was pretty sure she hated him. How was he supposed to raise an evolved human? With Adria gone, Tomin choosing to remain behind, and Vala's general bad attitude, raising Eve was Daniel's responsibility.

"We should keep ValaMalDoran and Eve separated DanielJackson." Teal'c suggested, "ValaMalDoran lacks control of her emotions. Eve could take offense to a thought of ValaMalDoran and kill her."

"By accident right?" Cam asked, now concerned, "She's just a kid, a kid can't kill-"

"When Adria was four she healed Vala and was able to read her mind. Eve looks four, but she has more Ori blood than Adria, so she could be stronger. Vala's feelings for Adria aren't exactly a secret, and if she transfers those feelings to Eve . . . I don't wanna think about it."

Sam felt sorry for both Daniel and Eve, neither of them had asked for this.

"Well her age may be a good thing. Think about it Daniel, she's young. If we could convince her the Ori aren't gods, that what they were doing was wrong, then maybe we can get her to accept us."

"At the very least stop her from killing us." Cam added. Sam shot him a look.

"What?"

"What if she can't control her powers? It's not like we have anyone who can teach her." Daniel protested.

The question stumped them. There might be a way to block her powers permanently, but the procedure could cause brain damage. Combined with the fact Eve was aware of and consciously using her powers, taking them from her would be another black mark against Daniel, SG-1, Stargate Command, and Earth in general.

"No one but Tomin and the Priors know where Eve is. We shouldn't have a problem with Ori soldiers trying to find her. Actually we shouldn't have a problem with anyone trying to find her. On Earth she's just another kid." Sam tried to reassure them.

"A kid who's smarter than all the on-base geeks combined and who can break our necks without laying a finger on us." Cam protested, "Don't get me wrong, I agree she's safe here, but do we really want to raise a superpowered kid on a top secret base?"

"Did you have somewhere else in mind?" Sam asked, sarcasm dripping from her words. "If we send an alien hybrid somewhere else, some other government department could snatch her up and start experimenting on her, or worse try and mold her into a weapon."

When Cam looked ready to protest further, Sam overrode him, "Cam, she's an alien. We work with alien beings and alien technology. Her knowledge alone makes her a threat to anyone who doesn't work here. We have things that can stop her from using her powers temporarily, we have councilors trained to work here, they could help her with her grief and anger. At the very least we can accept who she is and what she's capable of."

Daniel looked at Sam like she'd lost her mind, "Why?"

This time it was Teal'c who answered, "If we accept who Eve is and what she is capable of, then she will come to trust us DanielJackson. If we do not, she may take up the Orici's mantle out of spite or revenge."

Teal'c's words were chilling. They had just destroyed one Orici, they didn't need another.

"Okay. How should we start?"

"I think we should give her some space so she can mourn her loss and get used to her new, environment." Sam began, knowing the Goa'uld would call a ceasefire with the Tok'ra before Eve called this world home.

"Then what?"

"Introduce ourselves, get her comfortable around us, maybe redecorate her room."

"I don't think the general will go for it." Cam remarked. "What happens when she's old enough to move out?"

"Someone will repaint the walls and make the room like it was before." Sam replied in a tone that advised him not to speak again. Cam took the hint.

Daniel sighed again, "Okay. I hope you'll help me out with this though."

The chorus of agreements loosened the knot in Daniel's chest.

Stargate Command. Just the name left a sour taste in Eve's mouth, and she wanted to purge the very words from her mind, from other minds, from the very language that birthed it. Instead, she crawled out from beneath the itchy blanket and screamed into the pillow again.

Sated for the time being, Eve slid to the floor, conscious of the sudden tightness of her clothing. Why was she taller? Was she much taller? How could she find out?

The door to this room was unlocked, leading to a much larger room hosting a plethora of furniture. Plethora. She liked that word. Glancing at each piece of furniture, the names became available in her mind, followed by their purpose: chairs were for sitting in, tables for eating, reading, or writing, cabinets for storage, refrigerators for keeping food cold, sinks for washing hands and dishes that couldn't go in the dishwasher, couches were for sitting or lying on, etcetera etcetera etcetera.

The carpet beneath her feet was thick, as though rarely used, and Eve wrinkled her nose at it before continuing her exploration. The door of the big room was locked, so she turned around. There was a second bedroom, this one with her sire's things in it, and Eve growled. It was a pathetic growl, but when the drawers in the dresser rattled and fell out, Eve was satisfied. His closet was full of stuff too, and Eve seriously considered destroying it.

Her mother's words came to her then, as if from a great distance, _Your powers can be taken from you. Use them wisely._

_Mama?_ Eve listened a minute, but when no further words came, she dismissed it as a memory. The next room she found was a bathroom, one with a full length mirror on the back of the door. Yes, she was taller. And older. She looked five now. Eve lifted her hand and touched her reflection, confused.

What was happening to her? Why was she getting older?

For a few seconds, panic threatened to engulf her, and then the knowledge appeared. Mama had aged rapidly because it was the will of the Ori. Eve was aging more quickly than normal because she felt threatened. Rapid aging meant her powers would be within her reach sooner, and if she had access to all her powers she would be able to protect herself. Eve didn't have a problem with that, though she did worry about finding a teacher. Why then, did she feel unsafe?

There wasn't a single answer. Her mother had broken their mental bond, thus eliminating her sense of stability. She'd been taken from her home and family to a strange place, on a strange planet, in the wrong galaxy. Her grandfather had decided to stay behind. Why? Eve gave it some thought, eventually deciding that his job as a soldier meant he couldn't take care of her. She could understand that. As to her current situation . . .

If the Ori were gone (and they were), and her mother was gone (and she was, or she would have answered by now), then who would be looking for her? Not the Doci or the Priors, they had been brainwashed by the box called "the Ark of Truth." Of the lot of them, only her mother, the Doci, and the Priors knew her location, or had a general idea. Mama was never sure if the Ori were aware of her pregnancy. But the rest of the Ori faithful did. The Ori's human children were aware of her existence, but they didn't know where she was. Not that it mattered, as only Mama or a Prior could fly an Ori ship.

Were the Tau'ri holding her prisoner? As the last of the Ori, she was both the human sovereign of the Ori's children and their religious leader. Sovereign . . . she liked this word too. But could she handle the responsibility? Could she rule them in both the secular (another good word) and sacred domains? Did a bunch of grown-ups really expect a two-year-old (or was she five?) to lead them? She wasn't tall enough yet, wasn't smart enough yet!

"Fires of eternal damnation!" she hissed under her breath. Then her thoughts turned to the unbelievers and the blood drained from her face. Sometimes she accidently read Tomin's thoughts, or the thoughts of Priors who visited Celestis after what Mama called a "tour of duty." So many people had been hurt, so many people had died, that for some it didn't matter that the Ori were trying to show them the light, their very presence bred resentment. There were few true empires in this galaxy, but the largest single group was probably the Jaffa.

The Free Jaffa Nation, while fractured, was still a very real threat. They had shown they would cross any line, break any law (that wasn't their own), and murder anybody, if it hindered them in any way. And they had ships that anyone with the right knowledge could fly. It wasn't unreasonable to expect them to know this world's Stargate address. And there were a few Jaffa believers, the followers of Illac Renin.

_Should I reach out to them? Should I reach out to any believer?_

That could be what the Tau'ri wanted, letting believer and unbeliever alike know they were holding the leader of Origin for ransom and seeing which side would offer them more. Some of her mother's – _her_ followers, were just crazy enough to throw themselves to their deaths for her. That in itself was disturbing; Eve didn't want anyone dying for her.

Besides, Grandpa Tomin had allowed these unbelievers to take her with them.

_Maybe they lied to him._ Part of her mind whispered. Eve shook her head. Grandpa hadn't been physically harmed by the Tau'ri. He seemed to trust them. And if he trusted them, that probably meant she was safe here. Or the Tau'ri were really good liars.

So Eve still wasn't sure why the Tau'ri had left her here, alone, or what exactly it was they wanted. Information perhaps? She couldn't tell them very much.

Her stomach rumbled, reminding her she hadn't eaten since yesterday. She opened the bathroom door, peered outside, and made her way back to the kitchenette. There was supposed to be food in there. She was rummaging through the fridge when she heard footsteps. Stilling, she heard the sound of a key being inserted into the lock and hurried back to her room.

Daniel peered inside the den of his new quarters and barely restrained the sigh of relief upon not seeing Eve. He had a daughter. _He_ had a daughter. How was he supposed to come to grips with that?

_If I ever see Merlin again, I'll have some choice words for him._ Daniel thought, jumping at the derisive snort that seemed to come from nowhere.

"Eve?" he called, uncertain. He half expected her to say "go to hell" or provide the Ori equivalent of the same. The silence unnerved him, so he walked over to the closed door. He could tell she'd been in his room, and was somewhat displeased to see his clothes everywhere, but at least she hadn't overturned the dresser.

WHAM!

"And there goes the dresser," he muttered to himself, resolving not to think about anything else Eve could destroy with relative ease. Like everything else in the apartment.

"Eve, can I come in?"

Still no answer. Swallowing, he continued, "I'm going to come in now okay?"

Did she know how unnerving she was being? Daniel rolled his eyes at the stupidity of the question. She'd been raised by Adria, and Adria was pretty damn intimidating without much effort. Was he really expecting Eve to be different?

He eased the door open and blinked in surprise. A five-year-old girl stared back at him, blue eyes hard and cold, dark hair falling in gentle waves a little past her shoulders. She carried herself like a born leader, her gaze imperious as it swept over him, unimpressed by she saw. Daniel noticed absently that she was wrapped in a blanket from the blanket chest, and what was left of her dress was laid out on the bed.

"Uh, hi?" Daniel's greeting came out more like a question. When her silence continued, he wondered if she spoke Ancient instead, so he repeated his greeting in that language. She replied in kind, but her reply might as well have been a blow to the head.

"My mother's betrayer . . . intelligent but unwise, brave yet spineless, carrying the torch of a race who cares not if their children sicken, die, or are enslaved. What she saw in you I am unsure. Perhaps it was not you, but the Ancient she was seeing."

She hated him. Great.

Eve's eyes narrowed, "I don't hate you, you idiot! I loathe the fact you exist."

It went downhill from there.

The rest of his team, again sans Vala, regrouped a few days later, looking up when an ashen Daniel walked into his office.

"It did not go well DanielJackson?" Teal'c asked, concerned.

"It went about as badly as it could possibly go." Daniel replied, collapsing in his chair.

"That's pretty bad." Cam remarked, "What happened?"

"She's looked around the apartment, made a mess of my room already. The dresser needs to be replaced, she reduced it to kindling . . ."

"Already? Geez, she must really hate you." Cam said, trying to lighten the mood. It didn't work, as he found out when Daniel's face somehow lost even more color and Sam slapped him upside the head.

"Then what happened?" Sam asked gently, crossing her fingers.

"She looks five, it looks like she'll have Adria's figure when she grows up too, she's outgrown the dress she wore here. Was wrapped in a blanket from that chest when I walked in. I greeted her in English, then in Ancient, and . . . She gave me one hell of a dressing down, at one point she said she 'loathed the fact I exist'."

Sam and Cam flinched while Teal'c's brow furrowed.

"'S not like we expected her to run to you and call you Daddy," Cam began, hoping to make up for his previous faux pas. Daniel sighed, "I know. I expected her to throw me into a wall."

"Maybe she doesn't know how? She's five, right?" Sam asked.

"Dr. Lam's gonna throw a fit if she ever gets Eve into the infirmary." Cam commented, staring at his still-pale teammate.

"If we plan to change her views, we're running out of time."

Sam's words rang true, to a point. Upon learning that she was not going to be starved or tortured for information, Eve's aging leveled off. She retained the appearance of a five-year-old, though her knowledge was far beyond it. Daniel and Sam had gone shopping to get Eve a wardrobe, after discovering the blanket chest was stocked with nothing but blankets. Teal'c watched Eve while Cameron went looking for Vala.

Eve's wardrobe was the correct size but had room for her to grow in, Eve had remained in one spot where she could see Teal'c and every doorway, and Vala had been found sulking in her room. The real problems began when Eve prevented them from leaving and demanded to know what was going on.

Nervous looks were exchanged before Eve issued a real threat, "Tell me what's going on or I'll rip the information out of your minds."

Her eyes locked on Daniel and she waited semi-patiently. The archeologist blurted out, "The laws on this planet say that you have to live with the closest blood relative. As your father-"

Eve hissed an expletive and her eyes glowed yellow.

Cam had enough time to squeak, "Crap" before they were lifted and thrown into walls.

"That . . . did not go well." Cam groaned a few hours later. All four of them had been lain out in the infirmary for treatment of blunt force trauma. Eve had been nice enough to drop them off, nicer still to explain what she'd done and recommend options for them, and Dr. Lam informed Daniel right away that Eve was now six.

Daniel laid an arm over his eyes. After a discussion that went late into the night, Sam volunteered to speak to Eve the next day. Alone.

She did. The information she returned with was confusing, and SG-1 was glad General Landry invited himself.

"Adria shielded Eve from the war. She knows there are believers and unbelievers, but she had no idea that the Ori had created an army and sent them to war."

"What did she think?" Landry asked.

"She thought the soldiers were there to keep order until planets converted to Origin."

"Why would Adria try and keep her kid in the dark?" Cam asked.

"When you become a parent your priorities change ColonelMitchell. It is no longer about fighting for honor, it is about protecting someone you love."

"Maybe Adria hoped to end the war before Eve grew up."

"Well it's over now right?" Landry asked.

"Actually Sir that's not true." Sam countered. "The humans in the Ori galaxy weren't affected by the Ark, so they wouldn't take too kindly to the fact their gods weren't really gods and they'd been fighting for nothing. Best case scenario is they'll think the Ori are testing them. Worst case is they'll think the Priors and the Doci have been corrupted or turned against them and rally around Eve as their new leader. If enough soldiers believe the Priors it could lead to civil war."

"What else, did she say?" Landry continued after a short pause.

Sam cleared her throat, "She asked if there was a room on the base she can use for religious purposes."

"You're gonna let her practice Origin here?" Cam asked sarcastically.

"I thought the same thing. She gave me a dirty look for it. Actually, she said she needs to perform funerary rites to appease Adria's spirit."

"The Ori had funerary rites?" Cam asked.

"Apparently." Sam replied with a shrug. Daniel picked up the thread of conversation, "She'll be using the rites where there isn't a body to bury. Three candles, a lot expensive incense, and a personal item that belonged to the deceased. The candles must be new and the incense good quality. After the rite is concluded, everything used must be destroyed by fire and the ashes scattered."

Landry didn't think about it long, "Do it."

Sam looked at him, startled, "Sir?"

"Eve's lost her mother, grandfather, and everything familiar in less than a week. Her faith is all she's got left. If we deny her this, we may not live long enough to regret it."

"I'll get my keys." Daniel said. "Might as well get Eve too, she'll have to pick them out."

"Not yet Dr. Jackson." Landry ordered, holding up a hand. As Daniel sat down again, Landry turned to Sam, "Anything else?"

Sam tilted her head the slightest bit, as if wondering how to word something, before answering, "Adria loved Eve. Eve wasn't seen as an accident or a burden or the next human leader of the Ori, Adria genuinely loved and cared about her."

"Unlike Vala, who was scared to death of Adria." Cam added.

"Maybe she was just trying to prevent Eve from going through childhood like Adria did: alone." Landry suggested.

Sam shook her head, "I don't think so Sir. Obviously we don't know a lot about Adria's childhood, except that Vala wasn't there long enough to make a lasting impression-"

"She said she missed Vala when she saw her again." Daniel interrupted with a shake of his head. "That means she was old enough to know Vala was her mother, and the fact she missed Vala indicates a connection, one-sided perhaps, but a connection all the same."

Sam continued undeterred, "Regardless, Adria probably grew up being told she was the Orici, destined to lead the armies of the Ori 'to glorious victory'. Aside from the servants, the Priors, and maybe Tomin, Adria grew up alone, without family and anything close to a friend. She might have grown up faster knowing the only person she could rely on was herself, because there wasn't anyone else who could do what she'd been destined to do. Maybe it bothered her and she didn't want Eve to go through it alone, personally I think whatever instinct that makes mothers look after their children took hold once she knew she was pregnant, at the very least when Eve was born."

"So she never left the Ori galaxy after we trounced the Ori," Cam began, attempting to fit what Sam had just said into what they already knew or had guessed. "She stayed there for the rest of her pregnancy, gave birth on Celestis, and raised Eve there. She loved Eve enough to shield her from knowledge of the war and try to be the mother to Eve that Vala never was to her. And until we got there, Eve had never been further than that temple place where the Ark was used. Am I right?"

"Pretty much."

"So how does Tomin fit in to all this?" Cam asked, puzzled by the piece that didn't seem to belong.

"Tomin married Vala, so he was Adria's father and Eve's grandfather through marriage." Daniel replied.

"He visited regularly."

"How regularly?" Landry inquired, folding his hands on the desk in front of him.

"Once a week every four weeks." Sam replied, "If Adria wanted to give Eve a family, she couldn't have picked a better guy. Like Daniel said, Tomin wasn't a blood relative, but he was head over heels for Vala and losing her really hurt him."

"So Adria can sense his pain and gives him someone he can love, thus ensuring his loyalty?" Landry asked.

"I don't know Sir. From a leadership position it makes sense and I don't doubt Adria knew his heart was broken, but maybe she knew getting Vala back wasn't possible without losing a significant number of troops or the Ancients becoming involved, so she gave him the next best thing: a granddaughter."

Judging from the expressions of everyone else, Sam wondered if this information unbalanced them as much as it had her. Like very villain they'd come across, SG-1 had placed Adria in a category, doing what she thought was right but ultimately self-serving. They knew she felt _something_ for Vala, and sought to keep them apart because of it. Then Eve came along and suddenly Adria's behavior shifted. She didn't return to battle, save for a month to put down a rebellion and then again when they lured her into a trap using Vala as bait. Other than that she stayed in Celestis and looked after her baby. She placed the needs of her child ahead of the needs of thousands of others. Why? Did she really love Eve, as Eve insisted? Or was it simply another duty, one more task demanded of her by the war? And if Adria had loved Eve, did that mean they'd struck too soon? What if all Adria wanted was to have her mother back?

Eve was here because of them, had lost her mother because of them, and while Sam knew they'd orphaned children before, they'd never had to raise those children.

_Because they weren't_ our _children._ She thought to herself, wondering how Eve was doing. Eve didn't like Daniel, but it wasn't because Adria had raised her to hate him. She had been hurt by his actions, Eve had picked up on this pain, and come to the conclusion that Daniel was a bad person because he'd hurt her mother. That he was an unbeliever just added fuel to the fire, and Sam inwardly winced at the awful pun.

"Well Daniel, you should probably go shopping now." Landry suggested.

"I'll come with you." Sam said.

Daniel looked very grateful.

Most of the car trip was spent in a one-sided conversation on Daniel's part. He talked about the different kinds of food on Earth, the different languages, music, literature, theater, television, movies, animals, and anything else he could think of. Sam asked if she had any preference to anything Daniel was talking about. This got a response out of Eve, though her tone was reminiscent of someone questioning a stupid child, "Samantha, how can I have a preference if I've never experienced anything he's talking about?"

Daniel groaned, knowing the sarcasm would get worse as she got older. Sam conceded that Eve had a point; it was hard knowing what you preferred when you couldn't tell pizza from a calzone, Rock from Alternative, or Beowulf from Narnia.

Once he pulled in to the specialty herb shop, Eve blew past him as if he wasn't there. They left the shop with three white pillar candles, myrrh, raspberry leaves, and sage, all of it good quality and all of it very expensive. Daniel suggested lunch somewhere and Sam chose a fast food placed at random. Eve looked at the selection with disdain, picking at her salad as if she'd never seen one in her life.

A short drive later and Eve had commandeered an empty room for the funeral, lighting the candles and burning the incense as required by the rites. She placed her mother's pendant within the triangle of candles and opened a copy of the Book of Origin, purloined from Daniel's office. She read from the book's pages aloud, speaking each word clearly and plainly. The flames brightened, the smoke from the incense encircling first the pendant then Eve. The fire brightened suddenly, comforting heat surrounding her, and Eve glanced up, eyes wide . . .

Several hours later, Eve emerged from the room with an urn containing the ashes from the ritual. She flung the book away, smirking when it caught Daniel in the ribs, and carried the urn outside the base. Waiting until the breeze was just right, she removed the lid and allowed the ashes to be blown away.

Eve snagged a couple fresh peaches when she got back to Daniel's quarters, dividing them into quarters and throwing out the pits. When Daniel peered inside a couple hours later, he found his daughter staring at the television, apparently confused.

"What is this?"

"It's uh, a television."

The six-year-old's stare made him feel like an idiot, so he tried again, shortening his explanation to what television did: educate, entertain, and inform viewers, not always in that order, and not always simultaneously. He explained the two different rating systems: target audience, and number of viewers. He explained genres and how a program fit into, defied, or created a genre. Finally, he said, "Most TV is watched in the afternoon or evening, when adults get home from work and kids are home from school. That's when the best or most popular shows and movies are on."

Eve pondered this, assuming the base had few such devices in order to keep soldiers focused on their missions. As for the rating system, it had its uses, but ultimately failed. Unless the children in question were hopelessly devoted to their parents, leave them alone long enough and they would find something they'd prefer to watch regardless of parental suggestion. And considering how often Daniel was gone, Eve could watch whatever she wanted on this television, and she had faith in her lying skills to keep it from him.

"Are you hungry? I can make something."

"I have eaten."

"Okay then."

Daniel wasn't surprised to find Sam, Cam and Teal'c in his office again.

"She seems fine," he said in response to their unasked questions, "The rites went well, the ashes were blown away, and the urn she used to transport them was vaporized via incoming wormhole. Landry saw it but let it go. Now, what are you guys doing in here?"

"We were discussing subjects that a child on Earth would be familiar with DanielJackson."

"If we have to take her off the base again, there are references to movies and books that would fly right over her head. Saying she's foreign will only work for so long. Eventually someone will wonder how a well-fed well adjusted child from a first-world country knows nothing about history, math, science, the arts or pop culture."

"Can't I enroll her in school? She knows basic math, basic science, how to read and how to write." Daniel countered.

Sam was undeterred, "She might be highly intelligent Daniel but her social skills are nonexistent. Even if she can control her powers, she may not be able to resist using them on others. Imagine her reading the teacher's mind for the answer to a question, or setting something on fire, or throwing some kid across the playground because he upset her. We don't even know if her growth is stable yet, she could start aging again at any time."

Teal'c cut her off, "There are things most school-age children know before school begins DanielJackson. They know their name-"

"She only has one." Cam interrupted.

"Their date of birth."

"She knows the one on the Ori calendar."

"Their age."

"She's got three."

"How to tell time, the length of a day, a week, a year, shapes, colors, and holidays. Should Eve grasp this information, I would agree with you sending her to school DanielJackson. But on this issue I side with ColonelCarter; she could indeed begin aging at any time."

"And she knows a lot of things that could get her, and us, in hot water." Cam picked up. "What will we say to her teachers if she mentions what goes on at Stargate Command? How are we gonna explain _that_ to Landry?"

"I guess it'll be up to me to explain why she can't tell anyone. She's too young to sign a Nondisclosure Agreement."

"Normally Daniel I'd say go for it, but that would only work if there was a bond between you and Eve. Eve doesn't think of you as her father, she thinks of you as her sire, a man who impregnated her mother and then took off to do the same thing to another woman." Sam disagreed quietly. Daniel reeled as if struck. Not for the first time he cursed the Ancients. Thanks to their actions and lack thereof, the sole surviving Ori was his kid, his responsibility. He hoped the Others choked.

"Okay, we can teach her here for a while I guess. But, what about the pop culture references?"

"Well aside from providing books to read and movies to watch, the only way she'll learn is by experience. We can take her to the movies one day, take her out to eat, go to the mall, the zoo, maybe a couple places out in the country . . . and if she sticks to a certain set of rules we can reward her with a trip offworld."

"Are we sure we want to do that?" Cam asked at the same time Daniel choked out "Rules?"

"It's part of who she is Cam, we can't expect her to deny it. Better we take her with us a few times instead of her hijacking the Gate and taking off by herself. Yes Daniel, rules."

"We might run into an Origin fanatic."

"Maybe she'll reject them in a fit of teenage rebellion."

"_Rules?_"

"Yes Daniel, rules." Sam replied, exasperated. "A few simple things like keeping her room clean, a set bedtime, what she can and can't watch, or eat, or do unsupervised. Maybe use an allowance as an incentive."

Daniel rested his head in his hands.

"I know you don't like it Daniel, but you are her father and you have to set some boundaries. Adria didn't let her run wild, she kept a fairly regular schedule and if you keep to a schedule she might warm up to you."

_Not a snowball's chance in hell._ Daniel thought. He'd never been a position of real authority (except that one incident with the hostages on P4M-328), and from what he'd seen, Eve was just fine the way she was. But maybe Sam was right. Maybe if he tried a little tough love, somewhere down the road Eve would thank him. Or she'd get pissed and throw him into a wall. He'd put money on the former.

Or not. Eve already had something of a routine. Rise and meditate with the rising sun, breakfast, lessons in the morning, lunch, a nap, control of her powers, dinner, playing with other children, a bath, a story, then bedtime. Daniel had no problem with this, though he wasn't sure where to find teachers or how to fit in time to read or watch TV. He supposed he would adapt the schedule eventually.

The soft mantra of "I am fire, I am light, I am warmth, I am life" woke Daniel the following morning and he checked the clock. The digital screen read 5:57. Since he didn't have to be up for another hour anyway, he let it go and closed his eyes again. It felt like no time at all had passed when the alarm blared, and Daniel staggered into the bathroom to take a shower.

At quarter after he stumbled his way into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee before rummaging for bowls and a box of cereal. They had none. Great. He'd need to go grocery shopping today.

"What _is_ that?" Eve asked suddenly, eyeing the bubbling liquid in the coffee maker with disgust.

"Coffee."

"It's _repulsive_!"

Daniel kept one eye on his child and the other on the coffee maker. Eve appeared to be actively planning the destruction of his coffee maker. He decided to move it to his office en route to the mess hall before Eve carried out her evil plot.

The sudden headache was like a blow between the eyes and Daniel crumpled to the ground, clutching his head and biting back curses. Said curses run through his head instead, loud enough for Eve to hear.

"If I was going to destroy this abomination, you wouldn't know until it was too late." Eve said calmly, unplugging the coffee maker and dragging him by the collar as if he weighed no more than a kitten. By the time Daniel knew where they were, several people had seen them and he realized he was still in his pajamas.

"Uh Eve? I'm not appropriately dressed . . ."

Eve either didn't hear him, or didn't care, just kept dragging him until she reached her destination. Oh he would never live this down . . .

Sam looked up right as a pajama-clad Daniel was dropped into the seat across from her. No she had not been mistaken, Daniel had indeed been dropped by Eve's telekinesis. Of course the girl was immaculately dressed in a pair of denim shorts, a spring green t-shirt, and white tennis shoes, hair neatly brushed. By comparison, Daniel looked like he'd just rolled out of.

The blonde decided to act normal, surely Eve had a reason for trying to humiliate Daniel before he'd had coffee.

"Good morning Eve."

Eve did not return her greeting, instead saying, "He drinks black sludge. It will be his undoing. Make him stop."

Cam choked on his orange juice two seats down. Teal'c pounded his back.

"What makes you think I can make him stop?" Sam asked, glancing at her disheveled teammate. Eve looked at Daniel, who tried to block his thoughts. Eve narrowed her eyes and Sam's mostly empty tray hit Daniel in the face.

For the second time in less than an hour Daniel bit back profanities, but the shock of pain was enough for Eve to get in and start rummaging around. He noticed right away her "touch" was a little different. Merlin's was suffocating, Adria's was subtle but present, Eve flitted from thought to memory with the quickness of a toddler on a sugar high.

"He values your opinion as a friend, as a teammate, and as a woman." Eve said, effortlessly holding a frantic Daniel too far away for him to cover her mouth. "He is hopeful you will still be around when I hit puberty, as he has no confidence in explaining it himself and believes Dr. Lam too clinical."

Cam's face was bright red as he tried to stifle his laughter. Daniel wanted to slam his head on the table. Once Sam had processed what Eve had just said, she asked, "And you think my opinion will be enough?"

Eve raised a delicate eyebrow, "Is there some reason it shouldn't be? Should I speak with his commanding officer? Or a doctor?"

"Honestly Eve, cutting off Daniel's coffee supply would do him more harm than good." Here Sam lowered her voice to give the illusion of privacy, "He's addicted to coffee."

Eve's eyes widened a little, "It is a drug then?"

Sam backtracked quickly, "No! No, coffee isn't a drug. It has caffeine, a common and perfectly legal stimulant. The problem is once you're hooked on coffee, trying to stop leads to problems. He'll have headaches, insomnia, and he'll bitch and whine and cry like a two-year-old."

Cam gave up and let loose a hearty guffaw, drawing stares of concern from every corner of the room.

Eve's glance at Daniel revealed she was seriously considering cutting off Daniel's coffee supply. Sam admitted to herself it was a suitable punishment.

Daniel would display classic signs of withdrawal, his resulting behavior would grate on everyone else's nerves, everyone else becomes annoyed, they lose focus, Earth/the galaxy/life as they know it becomes threatened because of it. And in the ensuing chaos, Eve's path to leadership would be clear. Oh yes, denying Daniel his coffee would be one hell of a payback choice.

Seeing Eve's passive interest morph into casual determination sent shudders down Sam's spine. Eve's expression conveyed her choice of vengeance had been made.

If they let Eve do it they were screwed. If they begged her not to they were screwed. Talk about a rock and a hard place.

**Thus does Eve's earthside adventure begin. I was honestly surprised at the feedback I received for **_**Death of the Phoenix**_**. The idea of a possible trilogy crossed my mind when I came up with the title. As most fantasy enthusiasts (or Harry Potter fans) will tell you, the phoenix is a bird that dies in fire and is reborn from its own ashes. Make of that what you will.**

**I am very proud of the first **_**Phoenix**_**, as my first fanfic ever was a now-deleted disaster, my second borderline crack fiction, and my third at a standstill. Hopefully the characters that are not mine are in character and I've gotten the voices right. I have considered making the third part of the trilogy a crossover with Smallville, and given the scaling back of the Stargate timeline this remains a possibility. I have a few ideas to make the crossover both possible and plausible.**


	2. Chapter 2

Daniel purchased a week's worth of groceries later that day, planning something different for every meal until Eve was accustomed to Earth food. Planning breakfast lunch and dinner for the next week was added to a long list of other things Eve needed, among which was a checkup, a dental exam, an eye exam, and a schedule for her immunizations. Other things included getting her tested in the core subjects to put together a homeschooling program. And while he was thinking about it, her room needed a makeover. Paint the walls a nice color, coordinate bedding and furniture, get a carpet, books, toys . . .

Eve glanced up from the table as Daniel put away the groceries and left again. Her brow furrowed. Daniel's mind, normally very organized, now resembled a pile of rubble. She knew of the conversations he was having with the rest of his team, knew their plan was to acclimate her to this planet, and judging from Daniel's thoughts just now, he was going to get a calendar to schedule everything. These same thoughts had caused him to mess up his organization of the groceries. Sighing, she pushed away from the table and corrected his mistakes.

Once Daniel came back, a desk calendar in hand, she glanced up and waited to see if he would take charge. Given time, he would take a more authoritative approach in his parenting. Eve was alright with this, she'd just have to see how far she could push the boundaries.

"Okay Eve here's what I'm thinking. Tomorrow we'll go see Dr. Lam and she'll give you a check up, then after lunch we'll test your math skills. After dinner we'll watch some TV. Friday we'll go to the dentist, eat out somewhere for lunch tomorrow, and test your language skills. Saturday we'll talk about redoing your room-"

Eve cut him off, "Redoing?"

"Don't interrupt young lady." He said, ignoring her huff of irritation. "Yes redoing. We can paint the walls a different color, buy sheets and blankets that aren't the standard army green, maybe get you some toys and books too."

Eve cocked her head, "Toys?"

"Things to play with. You didn't have toys?"

"No."

"How did you pass the time?"

"Mama taught me."

"Maybe we should get books and toys first." Daniel murmured under his breath.

"Whatever you want." At his glare she continued, "I know little about this world Daniel, any book, game, or movie I chose could easily be meant for an older audience."

Daniel sighed in relief; if she was referring to his knowledge, then maybe she respected him. Maybe this parenting thing wouldn't be so bad.

"Sunday, I'll leave that empty, maybe we'll go to the park or something, Monday we'll go the optometrist then we'll test your science skills. Next Tuesday we should have enough data to start homeschooling you, assuming we're not offworld."

"Can I go offworld?"

"We'll see."

Eve nodded.

"How'd it go?" Sam asked that Friday as Daniel returned to his office.

"Carolyn says she's a perfectly healthy six-year-old, but she's a little underweight."

"She throwing her vegetables out?" Cam inquired from the doorway.

"It's not the vegetables she has a problem with. She doesn't like meat."

"Vegetarian?"

"No, she says it's wrong to consume the flesh of another living creature."

"Ouch." Sam commented. "Your fast food choices just got limited to salads and cheese pizza."

"Then she lost a tooth on the way to the dentist, which is apparently normal, and I heard the same thing from the dentist about how healthy her teeth were. Eve spent most of the visit resisting the urge to bite the fingers in her mouth."

"How'd the tests go?" Cam asked.

"Don't know yet. She didn't struggle at all with math and her grasp of language indicates a higher reading level than her physical age. So no simple chapter books for her."

"That's, good, right?" Sam asked, unsure.

"I have no idea." Daniel replied. "I don't know how quickly Ori children developed their powers, I don't know how quickly Adria developed control of her powers, and I don't know how soon Eve's powers will show up."

"What powers does she have now?" Cam asked.

"As far as I know, only telepathy, and maybe the beginnings of pyrokinesis."

"Redwall." Sam said. Cam and Daniel looked confused at the sudden non sequitur.

"When I last visited Mark, I noticed my niece was reading a series called Redwall. It's about anthropomorphic animals in a relatively medieval setting."

At the two blank stares she was getting, she elaborated, "Well you said her reading level was high, so I'm thinking of books she can read."

"How many books are there in this series?" Daniel asked, already thinking of birthdays and Christmases to come.

"Nineteen."

Cam's eyes widened, "Wow."

Daniel nodded in agreement, "Eve reads quickly, but twenty books is a lot to go through. That gives me a few things I can get her as birthday and Christmas presents."

"Hey, when is her birthday anyway?"

Daniel paused, pulling his copy of the Book of Origin from a drawer and comparing it to the desk calendar. After a few minutes of comparing the two and calculating the times in his head, he said, "July. July the twelfth."

"That's coming up. What are you going to do Daniel?"

"Jackson?" Cam inquired when Daniel didn't answer.

"I'll ask what Adria did, then attempt to plan accordingly."

Saturday July the seventh dawned as it usually did; with Eve's chanting waking him up at the usual pre-dawn hour and his clock doing it again an hour later.

"July." Eve said after a swallowing a mouthful of cheerios.

"Hmm?"

"My date of birth on your calendar is July, July the twelfth. Right?"

Daniel quickly redid the calculations, "Yep. So, what did you and your mother do to mark the occasion?"

Eve thought back to the single birthday she could recall.

"Mama let me sleep in a little, but I still had to meditate. We didn't have lessons that day. Grandpa Tomin came to visit. Mama sent the Doci out for a certain type of fruit, something with a short harvest period. It's really sweet and really juicy. Mama said it was only for special occasions. Grandpa Tomin looked ready to faint with shock. Again."

Daniel knew what Eve was talking about, since Adria had somehow managed to preserve and squirrel away a few on at least one Ori ship.

"Why did you just compare my mother to a rodent?" Eve asked in a toneless voice.

He had to teach her not to read people's minds like that, "I didn't. Squirreled away means hiding something for later. I know what fruit you're talking about, and I'd love to go get you one, but I don't think the general would approve."

Eve sighed, but consigned herself to never having the fruit again.

"How do your people mark the occasion?"

"Well here, people receive birthday cards in the mail, gifts from family and friends, and usually a cake, a bread-like dessert that's sweet and covered with icing."

Eve did not jump at the mention of gifts, and when asked why she said, "I had a loving mother and a loving grandfather. That was all I needed."

"Oh, okay. Do you want cake?"

"Can you bake one without burning the base down?"

"Uh, maybe we'll skip that. What about gifts?"

"I don't know enough about this world to make that kind of decision. Obviously anything your friends consider giving me must be approved by you."

It was a close thing, but Daniel restrained himself from saying or thinking anything he would later regret. Okay, he didn't know how she behaved on Celestis, but Eve was turning into quite the cynic. If it was a coping mechanism that was fine; maybe Eve felt better if everyone around her was off balance. If it was her default persona, it would create problems for everyone.

"That's true. Well give it some thought at least."

"Can we talk about my room now?"

"Sure."

"I was thinking . . ."

A quick trip to Lowes for paint chips was followed by a trip to Bed, Bath, & Beyond for bedding to match the wall color. She decided on aqua for the walls, the dark blue bedding coordinating rather well. The carpet was ivory, which wouldn't clash with the walls. All in all she had a good eye for color.

Sam was currently washing Eve's new linens under the hybrid's watchful eye, while Daniel talked to Cam and Teal'c about possible birthday plans. Cam offered to have his parents bake a cake, at least a small one, and Teal'c offered to bring a Star Wars movie. Daniel relented to both.

Sunday Daniel took Eve to the park, while back on base the rest of his team gathered in Eve's room to start painting. They'd just started a second coat when the pair returned. Eve cocked her head, taking in the paint-splattered trio, before asking if they were hungry. At the chorus of yeses, Daniel followed her to the kitchen to supervise, and then to take over the actual cooking.

They had breakfast for dinner that night, then Cam and Teal'c went to finish the second coat of paint while Daniel did the dishes and Sam watched Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy with Eve, patiently answering every question she had.

Sam took her to lunch Monday while Daniel, Cam and Teal'c brought in the carpet and a bookshelf.

"What about a bedside table?" Cam huffed after setting down the heavy bookshelf.

"Maybe next time." Daniel replied, glancing around the room before nodding in satisfaction. "That should do it."

Once Thursday rolled around, Daniel mused on the futility of trying to surprise a telepath with anything. Eve was aware he was planning something, likely to celebrate her birthday, but she knew little else. In fact, Daniel didn't know much either. He hadn't seen his teammates for a couple days.

"Your friends are not speaking to you?" Eve had asked the previous afternoon, reading one of Daniel's books about Babylonian mythology.

He glanced up from his essay, "Nope."

"Perhaps you have offended them?"

Daniel thought back over the previous week, "No, I don't think so."

"Perhaps I offended them?"

Daniel looked her over, thinking back to any time she interacted with the rest of SG-1. She'd spent her first weekend on Earth at Sam's, but hadn't spoken to her or Teal'c. She'd asked Sam to get him to stop drinking coffee, citing health reasons, though she had yet to carry out her threat to deny him his daily coffee. She only knew Cameron in passing, and hadn't seen Vala since disembarking the Odyssey. Sam, Cam and Teal'c had been in the apartment the night before, but she hadn't said anything offensive. She'd attempted to make dinner, asked questions, and actually thanked them for what they'd done.

"I did stare at them before asking if they were hungry."

"I did too." Daniel countered. "I don't think either of us offended them, or they would have said so."

_So what's going on?_ He wondered to himself, frying eggs for breakfast. Eve liked eggs, eating them any way he prepared them but preferring them sunny side up.

Eve had risen at the usual hour and meditated, but went back to bed when finished. Daniel considered breakfast in bed, but he could hear her stirring even now. Probably smelled breakfast. She shuffled into the kitchenette a few minutes later, still in her favorite yellow pajamas. Her hair was a mess and she was still half asleep, her "good morning" cut off by a wide yawn.

"Morning Eve. Happy birthday."

Eve grumbled something under her breath, laying her head back on the table and closing her eyes.

"Two eggs, sunny side up." He announced, watching in amusement and slight affection as she raised her head from the table and stared at him expectantly. He slid the plate in front of her before pouring her usual glass of chocolate milk. She ate both eggs, requested and ate a third, then politely excused herself to dress and brush her teeth.

Daniel watched her go, pondering the changes she'd gone through. She'd lost her mother, grandfather, and home, brought to a strange planet with people who either misunderstood her or had no idea she existed, and would conceivably be stuck here for the rest of her life. She'd been angry and bitter at first, but she was working past it. He hoped she was at least, since she hadn't been to the on base councilor.

He had, while Eve was in the infirmary, to ask what to expect. The councilor told him most children Eve's age had a weak understanding of death, but she should be allowed to grieve her loss in her own way. Even if that meant she resorted to lashing out verbally and physically, it would be a way to release her anger and pain, a way to calm down, a way to accept her loss and move on.

Eve hadn't buried her mother per se, but she had preformed the correct funerary rites. She had not grieved, not to his knowledge.

_She won't._ He realized. _If I see her grieving, she'll feel vulnerable, and if she's vulnerable she'll age._

So she was bottling up her anger. Lovely. He could deal with screaming, he could deal with crying, depression, and physical violence. He was not equipped to deal with the near-Ascended side of things. Eve could destroy someone's mind, ignite wildfires, toss things around with her powers, and he had no way to stop it.

"Are you always this pleasant?" Eve's deadpan voice floated from the bathroom.

"All the time. You should ask Jack." He replied lightly. Eve scoffed before the sound of a faucet reached his ears.

"I need to check on something in my office, will you be okay by yourself for a while?"

"I suppose."

The escape to his office was quick, and Daniel spent a few minutes looking at jewelry on his computer. He had noticed Eve's tendency to reach up to the hollow of her throat, feeling for a pendant that wasn't there. He was considering purchasing a necklace to take its place, but he couldn't decide on the gemstone. The July birthstone was the ruby, but the color might send the wrong message. Her room was mostly blue, but there weren't many blue gemstones that matched her skin tone, especially the longer she went without sunlight. Perhaps a simple charm instead?

Eve found him a few hours later going through old reports.

"How long is 'a while' Daniel?"

Daniel jumped, "Uh, what time is it?"

"Noon."

"It is? Crap, it is. Sorry. Did you want something special for lunch?"

"Sautéed mushrooms?"

Daniel blinked, "I don't know if we have any."

"Chili?"

"Uh, okay, I think we've got everything to make that."

Eve had to prop the door open to bring the temperature down. Perhaps her choice of meal wasn't such a good idea in the middle of summer. Smelled good though.

"They put mushrooms on pizza," Daniel suggested, stirring the small pot of chili.

"Pizza . . . usually round, using bread as the base, traditionally followed by tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and various toppings including meats, vegetables, and in one case, pineapple."

"That's pizza alright. Would you like that for supper tonight?"

"How will it get here? Can they deliver?"

"I'd probably have to go get it."

Eve raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Because this base doesn't exist."

"Yes it does."

"Well, yes, physically it does. But on paper, officially, it doesn't."

"Why not?"

"Well, because it's a secret. No one else is supposed to know about it."

"Why?"

"Because telling civilians that aliens exist would cause mass panic and societal breakdown."

"You risk much to keep them safely ignorant Daniel. There are ways to reveal information that don't lead to mass panic. And there is the distinct possibility that they already know or suspect what secret you hide."

Her eyes slid out of focus, "I see a government torn asunder and unwilling to see eye to eye with others, a select few who are willing to break any law to do what they believe necessary to both protect civilians and increase their own wealth where possible . . . the chili is burning."

Daniel took the pot off the burner and turned off the stove.

"I think it's still edible," he said, sending the contents of the pot a nervous glance.

"Well if it isn't, we'll be united with my mother in death." Eve said with a cavalier tone. Daniel shivered.

"My family is screwed up Daniel."

"Do tell." He replied, slumping at the kitchen table. He'd saved the chili, now he hoped it tasted good.

"Where to start . . . my mother's kin were strictly dogmatic Ascended religious extremists. Her mother was a thief and a con artist, daughter of a thief and a con artist, and a Goa'uld host for a short period. My sire was laughed out of academia for pointing out the obvious, Ascended and descended more than once, and rivals the cockroach in sheer unwillingness to stay dead."

He had to laugh at that.

"He lost his parents young and his grandfather was labeled insane for one of his theories. Then there's the disturbing set of relationships. Vala is old enough to be your mother, but that hasn't stopped her from lusting after you. My mother may have been an adult in body and mind, but she was only a few months old when you slept with and impregnated her. My mother was a child by rape, I might be a child by rape, you were mind raped by an Ascended being . . . I need an aspirin."

Daniel handed her half an aspirin tablet and a glass of water, then watched her curl up on her bed for a nap. She was right; her family _was_ screwed up.

He could still hear her talking when he left, "Grandmother is lusting after my father . . . wonder if she tried to rape him too . . ."

He allowed himself to be chewed out by Dr. Lam for giving Eve human medication without supervision, then allowed her to run back to his apartment and monitor her. Then the archeologist went in search of Vala for a little heart-to-heart.

"If you want me to love her Daniel, I can't." Vala said as soon as he walked in. "I can't even look at her. She looks so much like Adria, but she's got your eyes Daniel and I don't like it!"

Daniel said nothing, waiting for her to get everything off her chest.

"Why would you do that to me Daniel?"

"You think I did this to spite you? I was all for using Adria's feelings for me but only to a certain point. I did _not_ want to sleep with her, but Merlin insisted."

"Oh sure, _Merlin_ insists and suddenly it's alright!"

Now Daniel was getting mad, "No it isn't! I told him how far I was willing to go with this, but sometimes he took control!"

Vala blinked, "Like he did on the Odyssey?"

"Yes, like that!" Daniel snapped, unaware that a very similar situation had already played out, albeit in a different timeline.

"I don't know what you saw in her Daniel!" Vala snapped, her anger returning full force. "You slept with my daughter but not with me? Do you really not find me attractive?"

Anger choked off Daniel's retort. He took off his glasses and rubbed his temples, having guessed that was the problem the whole time.

"Do you want and honest answer to that question?"

"Go away Daniel." Vala snapped.

"Oh no. You started this, do you want an honest answer to that question?"

"Yes, actually, I do!" she snarled at him, rising from the bed and getting right in his personal space.

"Do you believe I could have any kind of serious feelings for you?"

Vala stopped short, "Well, maybe not _serious_ feelings-"

"Oh! Oh what, we sleep together once? Then what? We work together! Even saying that out loud is unbelievable. C'mon! I can't even imagine what a relationship with you would be like! Okay, sure, you've proven yourself to be trustworthy on a professional level, and for that I'm very proud of you, but on a personal level? Give me a break Vala! At best you're an emotionally unstable wreck, but I'm not saying I'm much better. I _know_ I'm not much better! There was a time I thought I'd never get over my wife. I didn't want to be hurt that way again. But now, _finally_, I've gotten to the point where I feel like I can get close to someone again. But not in a million years, not in a _million_ years would I ever consider that person to be you! I mean we are so completely opposite and _wrong_ for each other it's not even funny and the worst part is, you know that! And this, flirty sexual thing you do is a way to have a laugh, at my expense. So I'm sorry I'm not more appreciative of that, I'm sorry I couldn't stop Merlin from taking control of my body and making me sleep with your daughter, and I'm sorry I had a kid with her, but you know what? There is _nothing_ I can do about that now! I was just as shocked by Eve as everyone else and now I'm stuck with her! At least she's relatively anonymous on Earth, what with most people in the dark about the Stargate, but if I let her go, if I send her through that Gate alone, who knows what could become of her? She could get killed out there Vala! Some human with a grudge or an angry Jaffa might get a lucky shot. Or if not that, some creep out there might kidnap her, maybe conduct experiments on her, or maybe use her to fulfill some sick perverted sexual fantasy they have. Hey, maybe Ba'al's looking for her right now! He seems to have an obsessive interest in you and your descendants. How do you think he'll react if he finds out Adria had a child, and that child is destined to take up her mother's mantle? God only knows what he'll do to her! Especially if she thinks I betrayed her."

The blood had drained from Vala's face a long time ago, but Daniel wasn't finished, "And if that wasn't bad enough, Eve's got followers, billions of followers, willing to do whatever she says because she is the sole surviving member of a race who claimed to be gods! What was I supposed to do Vala? Kill her?"

Vala shook her head weakly, "N-no."

Daniel sighed, feeling a little better now that he'd gotten that off his chest. When he continued, it was in a more gentle voice, "I don't have a choice here. Much as nobody likes the situation, she is my daughter, and if I don't look after her, no one else will. I have to raise her, I have to care for her, and maybe, when she's grown up, she'll decide a life on Earth isn't so bad. Maybe she'll settle down, get married and have a family. But at the very least, I can shield her from people who want to hurt her."

Vala nodded, and Daniel finally noticed how pale she'd gotten, "Are you okay?"

"I didn't think of that. Any of that. You're right Daniel, about everything."

"Well, maybe not everything." He replied sheepishly.

"My family is screwed up Daniel." She whimpered. Daniel reeled as if he'd been slapped.

"I'm not always a good person, and I know that. When the Tok'ra removed Qetesh, I was glad, but I was terrified. I didn't know what to do now that I had my freedom. I know I've lied, cheated and stolen, but I hope I've gotten better about it. Adria . . . I don't think Adria really cared what happened to the people of this galaxy. Now I find out I'm a grandmother, that my granddaughter is more Ori than Adria was, and she's got an empire eagerly awaiting her return." She gave a watery chuckle. "She is marginally safer here, I suppose, but we've got plenty of enemies and allies that know the Gate address or how to get here by ship. It's just, hard, I guess, knowing you have a child now. She's got needs only an adult can take care of and you won't have time for yourself for a while."

"Vala she's six, she isn't completely helpless."

Vala looked up, "How can she be six if she was born two years ago?"

"She's physically six. Her mind is probably about twice that."

"Okay. But she still needs an adult for guidance. Right? She needs you?"

"As long as she doesn't feel threatened, she should age normally."

Vala nodded before asking, "Does she say anything about me?"

The last few things Eve said about Vala were truthful but insulting, and she can see that from his expression.

"Let me guess, she knows I was a Goa'uld host and a thief right?"

"Among other things yes."

She sighed.

"You know Vala, you could talk to her. I'm sure she doesn't hate you like she did me."

"She hated you?"

"Oh yeah, she somehow managed to chew me out without actually raising her voice."

"You don't think she hates me?"

Daniel sighed, "I don't know. She hasn't seen you since she got here. C'mon Vala, like it or not she _is_ your granddaughter. The least you can do is talk to her. Maybe you can swing by for dinner. I'll be ordering pizza. It's her birthday."

"I'll think about it. Maybe get her something as a peace offering."

"She's not much of a gift person."

"Of course she isn't." she muttered under her breath. Then she snapped her fingers, "I've got it. I'll be back as quickly as I can."

And with that she rushed out the door and left Daniel alone. Sighing in exasperation, he closed the door behind him and went to check on Eve.

Eve showed her displeasure at Dr. Lam's hovering by first warning the woman not to touch her again. When the doctor didn't listen, Eve bit her. This was what Daniel understood to have occurred when he walked into a standoff between Carolyn and his hybrid daughter.

"Everything alright in here?" when neither answered, Daniel tried to break Eve's concentration, "Eve? What's wrong?"

_Make her leave._

"Why?"

_She will not leave me alone._

"She's worried you might have a negative reaction to the aspirin I gave you."

Eve finally glanced at him, _What business is it of hers?_

"She's a doctor Eve. Doctors tell the sick and the injured what's wrong with them and prescribe things to make them feel better. She's worried because you're mostly Ori, and isn't sure how a pain killer meant for humans will affect a being that's, well, not nonhuman, but-"

"She doesn't know if the pill will work on an evolved being." Eve said, having glanced at Daniel's thoughts and drawn what seemed liked the most appropriate conclusion.

"Exactly."

"Why didn't she say that, instead of awakening me and giving me a checkup without saying why?"

"Because I was worried it might make you sick. I'm sorry I woke you up, I was just concerned about the possible effects half an aspirin might have."

Eve gave her a sharp nod, but didn't relax until Dr. Lam had left.

"I'm hungry now." She said, passing Daniel to heat up a bowl of chili.

"What smells good?" Vala asked, her entrance taking Daniel by surprise.

"Vala." Eve greeted in a more formal voice.

"Eve." Vala replied. "Daniel let slip that it was your birthday. I overheard a conversation between you and Daniel about a certain fruit in the Ori galaxy. I wasn't able to get one, but I found something very similar. It's called a nectarine."

Daniel watched her pull a ripe nectarine from a grocery bag he hadn't noticed until then. Eve gave her a suspicious glance before taking the proffered fruit.

"Happy Birthday." Vala said before turning to leave.

"Wait Vala." Daniel started to reach for her before pulling back.

She half turned, waiting.

"Will you come for dinner tonight?"

Vala shook her head, curls bouncing, "Not tonight darling."

Eve was too busy staring at the nectarine to care much about the ongoing saga of Daniel and Vala. Eventually she grabbed the cutting board and a knife, cutting the fruit into quarters with the greatest care. Then she divided the quarters in half, picked up a piece and took a bite.

Daniel looked up just in time to see Eve fly out the door and rush after Vala. By the time he caught up to her she was clinging to Vala. Though she was silent he sensed her gratitude, as could Vala, who absently patted her head and gave Daniel a look of confusion. He shrugged.

"Your chili's getting cold Eve." He said.

"Is that what I smelled earlier?"

"Yep."

Eve raced past him again.

"I hope she never drinks coffee." He muttered to himself, turning to follow. "Thanks Vala. That meant a lot to her."

"You're welcome."

As afternoon gave way to evening, Daniel asked, "Did you want pizza for dinner?"

Eve glanced up, appearing to think about it, "Yes. With mushrooms."

"Okay, anything else?"

She shook her head, "No, just mushrooms."

"Sam, Cam and Teal'c will be here to celebrate with us. I'm thinking a large pizza with pepperoni and sausage on half of it and mushrooms on the other half. Sound good?"

Eve lowered the book and gave Daniel a look he couldn't decipher. After a good minute of total silence, "Which of us is the adult here Daniel?"

"Uh, I am."

"And which of us is the child?"

"You are."

"So why are you acting like a skittish animal?"

"Because I have a kid with psychic powers."

"You yourself have said the responsibility of raising me falls to you. Psychic powers or no, it is your job to raise and educate me. Are you going to grow a backbone and be the parent, or must I raise _you_ instead?"

Daniel inhaled sharply, "You want me to be the parent? Okay uh, your bedtime is at eight thirty, maybe nine on weekends. I expect you to be up no later than eight in the morning, keep your room clean, pay attention during lessons, and help out around here. If you can do that, once a week you'll get an allowance."

Eve cocked her head, "Allowance?"

"Spending money."

"Money?"

Thus began an explanation of Earth's economy, ending with the pair haggling over how much Eve would be getting in spending money. She said ten. He said twenty. They shook on fifteen. The allowance agreed on, Daniel got up to order the pizza.

The party wasn't really a party. Eve called it a gathering, because they did not "party" in the Ori galaxy. Eve liked the pizza, but not the cake. She handled the books with the greatest of care, and Daniel thanked Sam profusely for suggesting Redwall. Nineteen books was nothing to sneeze at, and if the cast of characters was large enough then Eve might actually be challenged.

Sam had given her two books, one called Martin the Warrior, the second titled Mossflower. Cam gave her one book, titled Fire and Ice. It was part of a larger series about . . . feral cats. Daniel had no idea why anyone would write a children's book about feral cats, but according to Cam it was relatively popular. Daniel said he was still working on his present, something Eve accepted with a nod.

Once Eve had carefully placed the books in her room, they all settled down to watch Star Wars: A New Hope. She glanced at Sam's watch once or twice, but when Daniel didn't tell her off for being up past her bedtime she settled down. She'd fallen asleep about halfway through, and Sam put her to bed.

When Daniel got up the next morning, Eve was seated at the table reading Martin the Warrior. She'd set their places for breakfast, though the coffee maker was untouched. Daniel buttered some bread for toast and commented, "Sorry you missed the end of the movie."

Eve made some noncommittal sound, focusing on the book.

"We'll watch it again soon, maybe Saturday, so you can see all of it."

"Okay."

"Good book?"

"Very. Give Samantha my thanks, and my apologies for not thanking her last night. And for falling asleep on her."

"Sure. Hey, why do you call her Samantha? You've heard me call her Sam right?"

"Samantha is her name is it not?"

"Well, yes. Sam is her nickname."

Eve looked up, "Nick . . . name?"

"A shortened version of her real name. If I had a nickname, it would be Dan. Cam is short for Cameron, and Vala calls Teal'c 'Muscles'."

She snorted, muttering what sounded like "Tau'ri" under her breath.

"Here's your toast. Could you not read at the table please?"

Eve took the book back to her room before returning to the table.

"I've got a mission briefing today. I'll print off a few things for you to do."

Eve's mouth was full, so she raised an eyebrow and hoped it conveyed interest. Or confusion, that would work too.

"Math and English worksheets, maybe a few things about Earth history."

_In the beginning the universe was contained in a singularity. At some point the singularity exploded._

"That's right. But today will be mostly about math and English. How's that sound?"

Eve took a sip of chocolate milk to wash down her toast, "What happens when I finish them?"

"Well, you can go back to reading the books you got for your birthday, or find something age appropriate to watch on TV."

"Where are you going?"

"Don't know yet." He replied, draining his coffee. Once the dishes were washed and put away, Daniel handed Eve a few worksheets and headed for the briefing room. Eve was allowed to accompany him.

By the end of the short meeting, Eve had picked up the meaning of the phrase "reconnaissance mission". SG-1 was going to P3K-546 to look around, and if they found anything interesting, like a set of ruins, they would catalogue it and either return another time or have someone else return in their place. They would be gone at most until tomorrow morning. Glancing at her worksheets, Eve estimated it would take her roughly an hour to finish them, then the rest of the day was hers.

It happened just as she had predicted. Within an hour of SG-1's departure, she had finished everything Daniel had given her and was soon immersed in Martin the Warrior. After a couple hours reading, Eve grew bored and turned on the television in search of something else to do.

_Tau'ri sport, Tau'ri drama, child's cartoon, alien bursting from human torso-what?_

Eve cocked her head at the strange thing that jolted and whipped its way off screen and out of sight. Since nothing else seemed to be on, she settled on the couch and paid attention. By the time the movie, titled Alien, ended Eve had grasped most of the plot. The special effects were nothing impressive, but they made do with what they had. But the best part, in Eve's mind, was the fact this movie was the first of a group of four, and the sequel was coming up.

Over two hours later, a wide-eyed Eve turned off the television and went to paw through the fridge for something to eat. The sequel, titled Aliens, had better special effects, and the overall plotline tied in to the previous film, but Eve felt there was something about it that was . . . rather lacking. Oh the fear element was strongly present, she'd been startled enough times that her clothing had gotten a little snug. It just seemed like the producers were trying too hard. As she heated a slice of pizza in the microwave, she pondered the purpose of sequels. By itself, _Alien_ made an excellent standalone, as did the first book in most or every series written or screened on this planet. Sequels ran the risk of doing poorly in the theater, doing poorly in DVD sales, and earning the ire of legions of devoted fans. Legion . . . that's a good word.

Hearing the ad for the next movie in the series, Eve weighed her options. She'd been watching TV for roughly three hours. SG-1 would be gone until morning at most. The odds of him leaving her alone until then were very small, and getting smaller all the time. Someone would be sent to check on her, and soon. An adult wouldn't approve of the fact Eve was watching an R rated movie, and she would be scolded by whoever discovered her and then punished by Daniel when he returned. It was a risk she could not afford to run. The movies would be on again. Perhaps she would get lucky and SG-1's next mission would coincide with another showing? But the movies were so interesting . . .

Two hours later, Eve estimated she was closer to eight than seven, and decided that someone had dropped the ball with Aliens 3. Were the special effects an attempt to make up for the weak plotline? Eve hid her face in her hands. Yes, the fear factor was still there, as her age showed, but seriously, _why would the directors off the protagonist_?

With the hero dead thanks to some noble sacrifice, who was supposed to take her place in _Alien Resurrection_? Which, not surprisingly, was on next.

"I hope they can pull off a miracle with this one." She muttered to herself, and settled into the couch for the quadrilogy finale. Quadrilogy? What kind of word was that?

By the time the movie ended, it was late enough for Eve to justify heating another slice of pizza for dinner. And since she'd just seen 4 R rated movies, she couldn't justify chocolate milk for dinner or staying up past bedtime.

_Wonder if nightmares are a passable excuse for my age?_

A knock at the door startled her and she tipped the glass. A sharp movement with her wrist stilled it. When the knocking did not stop, she righted the glass and demanded, "Identify yourself!"

There was a chuckle from outside the door, "It's General Landry. Thought I'd check on you."

Eve clamped down on her telekinesis to keep loose objects from rattling, her reply coming out colder than she intended, "No."

The humor in his voice lessened, "I promised Daniel I would."

"You cannot come in." Eve snapped, hearing glasses in the cabinet clink against one another. "I do not know you."

"You saw me at the mission briefing this morning."

"I do not know you." Eve repeated, emphasizing each word and planting the suggestion in his mind to _leave her alone_.

His mind was unprepared for the sudden assault, so unprepared in fact that he had no idea what Eve had done.

"Is there anything you need?"

"No."

"Alright. Goodnight."

Eve didn't relax until she couldn't hear his footsteps anymore. Sighing, she cleaned the dishes, went through her nightly routine, and curled up in bed with Martin the Warrior.

SG-1 had brought back something interesting. Joy. Eve stared at it before letting her eyes slide shut. Her morning had not been a good one. She had slept poorly the night before, unable to shake the feeling something was wrong, and lost two teeth during breakfast. Dr. Lam had simply shrugged, theorizing it was connected to her aging. Eve felt sorry for Mama, who cut and lost and grew all her teeth within the span of a few hours.

As for what SG-1 brought back, it was a crystal. No real surprise there, as most advanced civilizations made use of the crystal to store data and power. What made this one different was its shape. It was not flat like the kind the Ancients used, it was not a colorful hexagonal rod like the Goa'uld had, shaped like puzzle pieces like the Asgard's, or shaped like a warped puzzle piece like the Ori's.

It was white, pentagonal in shape, and had a flat base roughly ten inches in diameter, the top similar to a gem with an eight cut. And Daniel would not shut up about it. From what Eve understood, SG-1 had found the ruins of a civilization on P3K-546. They'd constructed houses from stone and a temple from marble, and the crystal had been found in the temple. Daniel recognized the writing on the temple walls as being similar to some Tau'ri culture's writing system about a strange people that came from the distant stars.

Eve glanced at Vala, brushing against her mind. She stiffened, glanced at Eve, and raised an eyebrow.

_May I come in?_

Vala shrugged, _I suppose._

Eve didn't bother reading her grandmother's thoughts, instead asking, _Is he always like this?_

_Not all the time. But it is common when some new piece of alien technology is brought back._

Eve withdrew, again closing her eyes. She was pretty sure she fell asleep, because the next thing she knew there was a hand on her shoulder shaking her. The sudden crack and yelp was enough to fully awaken her, and when she opened her eyes she was greeted with the sight of Samantha cradling her arm.

Without complete awareness of what she was doing, Eve snagged the blonde's arm and pulled it close enough to see it properly. It was broken at the wrist, and Eve funneled the right amount power into it to repair the bone. The rest of the room looked on in shock, Sam in particular, especially when Eve put her head back on the table and closed her eyes.

"Are you alright ColonelCarter?"

"I'm . . . fine. She healed it."

Daniel groaned in frustration, but his later don't-use-your-powers-on-normal-people speech not only backfired horribly, it also fell on deaf ears. Eve shouted at him for his use of the word "normal", intentionally labeling her an outcast. Then she shouted at him for what he did to her mother. Then the shouting cut off, and Daniel realized a few things at once: Eve's face had no color in it, her eyes were yellow and wide, and _everything_ in the apartment was rattling.

He knocked the table over and dove behind it not a second too soon. Eve shrieked and released a pulse of energy, destroying most of the apartment.

**End of chapter 2**


	3. Chapter 3

"Run that by me one more time?" Carolyn asked, glancing at Eve. Twenty minutes prior, Teal'c had carried the unconscious hybrid in and laid her on an unoccupied bed. Right behind him came Daniel, supported between Sam and Cam, a worried Vala bringing up the rear.

The archeologist had a broken arm and a broken ankle, his back was bruised and he had scratches everywhere. By contrast, Eve was relatively unscathed. Her vitals were normal, but scans of her brain activity were anything but normal.

Under the doctor's withering glare, Daniel retold his version of events, "Eve broke and then healed Sam's wrist at the debriefing this morning-"

Sam cut him off, "The debriefing was over. I thought she was asleep and wanted to wake her up. I think I startled her."

Daniel continued, "I came up with a lecture for Eve about not using her powers on normal people and she lost her temper with me. I don't know what caused it, but suddenly the blood drained from her face, her eyes turned yellow, and everything was shaking. I knocked over the table and hid behind it, Eve screamed, there was a pulse of energy, the next thing I know I've been slammed into the door, I'm covered in pieces of wood, the apartment is in shambles, and Eve is unconscious on the floor."

"That pulse of energy could have killed her Daniel." The good doctor snapped, pleased when that got a reaction out of him. Daniel heaved himself up on his good arm to look at his daughter. Her skin was too pale to be healthy, and her expression was clenched as if pained.

"Will she be okay?"

"I don't know. And considering Eve's DNA, I might not be able to find what's wrong, never mind how to fix it. There might be something in Atlantis that can help her, but other than . . ." she trailed off with a helpless shrug.

"Maybe a Prior can help." Vala suggested. This suggestion was greeted with stares of incredulity.

"What? Priors have near-Ascended powers. If anyone out there, besides the Ancients, could find the problem and then fix it, it would be a Prior."

"I don't think the Ancients would be too keen on helping an Ori, even if she's just a kid." Cam remarked.

"The Priors may be similarly unwilling to help." Teal'c added. "And bringing Eve so close to their civil war would expose her to those who still believe in the Ori."

"We can keep her safe. Just take the Odyssey over to the Ori galaxy, find a Prior, and ask him to help." Vala protested.

"And if he doesn't come quietly?"

"Kidnap him. Could use the Prior disruptor to cancel his powers, use a Zat to knock him out, take his staff from him-"

"Vala that's crazy!" Daniel shouted. Eve's expression twisted and several pieces of equipment shorted out.

"Would you keep your voice down!" Carolyn hissed, glancing at Eve. When nothing else was destroyed, she sighed in relief.

"Well the Ancients don't care and the Ori aren't around anymore. The only one who can help is a Prior." Vala insisted.

"There is no way Landry will go for it." Cam interjected.

"Cam's right Vala. It's too dangerous, for Eve and for us. Besides, she probably inherited an accelerated healing ability from Adria. Maybe she'll get better on her own." Sam added.

Vala snorted, aware on some level that Eve's DNA more or less ensured her complete recovery, but wanting to speed that process up a bit so Eve could heal Daniel.

The temperature in the room began rising, Eve's expression twisted again, and a second pulse, this one telepathic, left her mind. It was not a request, it was a command, and by the Fires of Celestis it would be obeyed.

* * *

On the planet Ver Omesh, a solitary Prior was meditating outside his home. He lived with a few of his brother Priors, secluded from the rest of the galaxy and content to live out their days contemplating the Book of Origin. The Ori had long permitted this, ensuring the planet's climate was favorable, that the stream never ran dry, and that they had plenty of food to go around.

This Prior was bald, his face absent of the usual scarring, his head oval shaped, his body slender but hidden beneath plain brown robes. His staff was leaned against the house, normally unneeded, but he sensed its presence. Turning his head enough to see it confirmed the orb atop the staff was lit up, receiving a message. When no message came, he did not worry. Perhaps the brother sending it was far away.

When the message did come, the Prior surged to his feet and summoned his staff.

"Fide Virtutis? What is it?" Brother Pium Unum asked, rising from the cushion beneath the window.

"The Young Orici is ill Brother, she has demanded I guide her healing."

Unum flinched. Though the group of Priors who lived here had nigh unshakable faith, they had never used that faith as an excuse to harm anyone. They traveled freely on this world, teaching the children to read, making the crippled whole, healing the sick, and sharing the bounty of their gardens. As such, they were spared the anger and mistrust of the many villagers, who were quick to remember the good the brothers had done them and allowed their sense of betrayal to melt away.

The Brothers were ashamed of how easily the Ori had led them, and while the first Orici had earned their faith through prosperity instead of fear, she too had lied to them. They had already known of the Orici's daughter, and how she was taken in by her father. They bore her no ill will, for she was only a child and the opinions of the young were easily changed. Regardless, Virtutis and Unum both knew that only they or another Brother could help the child.

And so the pair departed Ver Omesh for Celestis.

"The Young Orici is ill?" the Doci inquired.

* * *

"Yes Doci. She contacted me and requested for my help." Virtutis replied. The Doci sighed, knowing if the child was anything like her mother then it was not a request but a demand, and that she was no longer a child either.

"Brother Virtutis said the Young Orici needed him to guide her healing."

"Why can she not heal herself?"

"Perhaps she is unsure of how to do so? She spent two years under the care and tutelage of the Orici, and if the Orici did not teach her . . ."

"Then she did not yet possess the ability." The Doci concluded. He started to recite a blessing, but stopped himself with a low curse. He had worshiped the Ori for so long that, even though he knew the truth about them, it was difficult to break old habits.

"I will find you a ship at once."

"Thank you Doci."

* * *

The Supergate's sudden activation after two years of silence was unlooked for but unnoticed. The lone Ori warship emerged in the Milky Way and entered hyperspace immediately, plotting a course for the Tau'ri homeworld. The problems began when they got close enough to beam Virtutis to the planet.

They were both convinced that simply beaming into a room would not be welcomed. They did have the planet's address in the ship's archives, but the Tau'ri had ways of preventing any travelers from stepping onto their world without proper . . . clearance, was the word the Doci had used. He suggested finding a group of Tau'ri warriors who were exploring a different planet, approaching them with the greatest of caution, and laying their staves upon the ground in a gesture of peace. Assuming they weren't killed upon sight, Virtutis would politely request an audience with SG-1. If the request was granted, he and Unum would reveal their purpose and hopefully be allowed to assist the Young Orici.

"We must find another title to give the Orici's child." Virtutis commented dryly, as the pair approached a group of Tau'ri.

"I concur. What would you recommend?"

Virtutis was silent for a moment, "I am unsure."

"At the same time," Unum continued, "She may wish to keep the title the Doci bestowed upon her. She is young, and she is capable of imparting knowledge to vast numbers."

"And it connects her to her mother. Though I doubt the Tau'ri would refer to her by her title."

"Freeze!" a voice shouted.

The two Priors noticed the guns now pointed at them, glanced at each other, and launched into the plan the Doci laid out.

* * *

Vala kept insisting until Landry agreed to allow the Priors through the Gate simply to shut her up. When the two followed SG-3 through the gate, SG-1 noticed a few differences between them and other Priors. Their robes were solid brown and lacking the symbol of Origin, and their faces were absent of the scars adorning the faces of other Ori priests.

"I am Fide Virtutis." The taller of the two said in greeting. "This is Pium Unum. We hail from Ver Omesh."

"Nice to meet you." Cam replied flatly. "I'm sure you know all about us."

Virtutis' blank eyes flicked over him briefly, "Cameron Mitchell, leader of SG-1, one of many groups of Tau'ri warriors sent to explore other worlds. It is said the Orici had a personal vendetta against you."

"Tell me something I don't know." Cam muttered. Virtutis ignored him.

Unum stepped forward, "My Brother told me the Young Orici contacted him, that she was ill and needed his help."

"Eve contacted you?" Sam asked, confused. "But she's unconscious."

"The mind is capable of many things." Virtutis replied. "We may search and study it for decades but never learn all of its secrets."

"Okay, so Eve contacted you and asked for your help. Infirmary's this way." Vala spun and started walking, leaving SG-1 and the two Priors to catch up.

"Did she say what was wrong?" Sam asked.

"She did not. Only that she was ill."

"Hmm."

Upon reaching the infirmary, Virtutis immediately went to Eve's bedside and started chanting softly in Alteran. Unum hung back, offering to heal Daniel's wounds instead. The linguist waved him off, preferring to watch this Virtutis character heal his daughter. Eve cringed, tensed up, and then relaxed, brow furrowing in confusion before smoothing over.

"She will rest easier now." Virtutis began. "The energy pulse she released was her telekinesis. It was too sudden and too powerful for her to control, thus her collapse."

"Is she alright?" Daniel asked, glancing at the sleeping Eve and noting her color was coming back.

"She will be in a day or so."

"Did this happen to Adria?" Vala inquired, her arms crossed. Virtutis blinked, remembering Adria was the human name of the Orici. He shook his head, "The knowledge the Ori gave her included control of her powers. The Young Orici did not inherit this control. I am unsure of why."

Vala twitched at the words "Young Orici," but showed no other outward reaction.

"Maybe Adria wanted to teach Eve herself?" Sam suggested.

"It is possible." Unum replied. "Brother? Are you alright?"

"Telekinesis is not the only power that made itself available to her. She also has access to memories that are not hers."

"Genetic memory. Wonderful." Daniel muttered under his breath.

"Perhaps, now that your daughter is out of danger, I may heal your wounds?" Unum asked again.

"Go ahead." Daniel sighed.

* * *

Three days later, Vala sat beside her sleeping granddaughter, fending off memories of standing at her daughter's deathbed. Dawn was still a few hours off, but Vala kept her vigil anyway. Glancing up, she tucked a strand of hair behind Eve's left ear. Eve scrunched her nose up and sneezed. Then she stirred and murmured, "What happened?"

Vala jumped, leaning forward to look into her granddaughter's eyes, "Eve? Can you hear me?"

"Quite well actually."

"Do you know where you are?"

"The infirmary."

"Do you remember what happened?"

_They dare stand against us?_

_We will destroy them!_

_Evil was born at __Ortus Mallus-_

_We must become stronger-_

_Ascension will give us power-_

_Must guide their development-_

_I can't abandon my army . . . They look to me for guidance, for protection, and for answers._

_**Good to see you Mother. Or should I call you Vala? I believe you renounced our blood relation the last time I saw you.**_

_Make me like that bird most sacred, that dies in flames and rises anew from the ashes._

_The Stones of Power shall be mine!_

"He called me an outcast." Eve murmured, shaking herself free of the strange memories.

"Daniel?"

"I took issue with his use of the word 'normal'. From my point of view, _he_ is the abnormal one."

"Understandable."

"I felt something within me awaken. It was powerful. It was angry. It was fighting to get out of me. I could not hold it back."

Vala straightened in her chair, "Then what happened?"

Eve jumped, having forgotten she was not alone.

"I could not hold it back. It destroyed everything . . . and then I collapsed."

"This little accident hurt Daniel. Remember that part?"

Eve shook her head, "No. I don't. Where is he?"

"One of the Priors healed him. He went to bed a few hours ago. You've been unconscious for three days."

Eve squeezed her eyes shut, "Three days."

"Three days." Vala repeated with a nod. "So, you're feeling better?"

"I am."

"And are you sorry?"

Eve's yellow eyes pinned her to her chair like a bug to a card, "It is part of who I am. I will not be sorry for it."

Vala flinched. Eve rolled over and closed her eyes, knowing her grandmother was smart enough to recognize an obvious dismissal. When the woman had left, Eve pondered the memories she'd inherited and resolved to speak with Daniel in the morning.

* * *

Dr. Lam walked in the next morning to the sight of Eve sitting cross legged on her bed and murmuring "Ego sum ignis, Ego sum lux, Ego sum tepore, Ego sum vitam" repeatedly. Shaking her head, the doctor tiptoed past. Her efforts were in vain.

_Carolyn._

"Morning Eve."

Fifteen minutes later, Eve allowed the doctor to take her temperature, weigh her, measure her height, her pulse, her breathing, look in her ears, nose, and throat, and draw blood. When everything came back clear, Eve was discharged from the infirmary. A short ride to Level 18 later, she paused long enough to knock on the open door before entering.

"Eve!" Daniel shouted in surprise, papers going everywhere. Sighing, Eve raised a hand and drew her fingers together. The papers reorganized themselves and landed in a neat stack on her sire's desk. He blinked a couple times.

"Okay. I guess you're feeling better?"

Eve answered his inquiry with one of her own, "How much do you know of your ancestry?"

That pulled him up short, "Well, uh, the Jackson name is Scottish in origin, I know the names of my great-grandparents on both sides, and I know a little about some of my Scottish ancestors."

Eve blinked as the words _Clan McCorrigan_ crossed her mind.

"What is their connection to Clan McCorrigan?"

"Clan McCorrigan? Uh, I'm not sure. I can look it up when I've got some time if you like." He replied, pleased that his daughter was taking some interest in her human ancestry. Eve nodded and left him to his work.

The next day after lunch, Eve stiffened and glanced downward, toward what Daniel was fairly sure was the Gate room. Then the klaxons went off and she rushed from the room with him on her heels.

They arrived in time to see an SG team step through, followed by an Ori soldier in full armor. Right behind him was Virtutis, his expression blank.

"I am Commander Boraz. I apologize for the intrusion, but I must speak with Vala and . . . Eve."

Landry looked at SG-1 on one side of the room, then at Daniel and Eve on the other before shrugging and saying, "It's your call."

While Daniel had no desire to expose Eve to anything Ori related, Boraz was one of the Ori soldiers who had surrendered on Dakara. It was his purpose that puzzled Daniel at first. The only link between Vala and Eve was Adria, and unless Adria had found a way to come back from the dead, Boraz had no reason to be here. Of course, if Adria had come back to life, her first action would be to contact Eve. Eve had watched enough TV and read enough legends to have a grasp of deception, so he didn't rule it out.

As he continued to think it out, he remembered a visibly unhappy Eve hugging a man she called Grandfather and telling him to go in peace. Tomin. Tomin was Vala's husband and Eve's grandfather. Tomin was devoted to Eve, and Daniel wouldn't put it past him to attempt coming to Earth himself.

Why then, was this Boraz here?

Vala unknowingly spoke his question aloud. Boraz jumped at the voice from nowhere, calming somewhat when Virtutis waved his staff in the direction of the observation window. He whispered a few things in the man's ear.

Five minutes later, SG-1, Landry, Eve, Boraz, and Virtutis were ensconced in the debriefing room.

"I have come on Tomin's behalf." Boraz began, starting out strongly but beginning to sweat under the number of stares. "I am sorry to be the bearer of ill news but, Tomin is dead."

Everyone stopped. Vala swallowed before asking, "When? How?"

"He had gone to a village to convince them the Ori were not gods. There was, a short fight, between Tomin and a pair of Ori soldiers. They both fired their weapons. He was unable to endure the pain."

The room was silent for a minute. Daniel glanced at Vala. Vala looked faintly surprised. Eve had vanished.

"In accordance with our traditions, it falls to Tomin's closest relatives to settle his estate. In this case, his closest kin are his widow and granddaughter."

Daniel cut Vala off, "What would happen if they don't show up?"

Boraz looked up, "It would be seen as dishonoring the dead. Only Vala or Eve can begin the funeral, otherwise Tomin's body will not be buried and his estate will be locked down until one or both of them arrive."

"Where'd Eve run off to anyway?" Cam asked, noticing her absence for the first time. Five footlockers slid into the room. Right behind them was Eve, toting a good-sized suitcase. She slammed the handle down with a note of finality and gave Daniel an expectant look. A war of facial expression and telepathy erupted between the two. Eve smirked in triumph when Daniel sighed. He looked up a Landry.

"Like I said, your call Dr. Jackson."

Daniel glanced at the five packed footlockers and single suitcase, knowing Eve had packed for herself and brought the footlockers to get the point across. The anthropologist in him screamed that a trip to the Ori galaxy would allow him to observe their daily lives, hopefully from a distance. The father in him pointed out that Eve and Tomin had been close, and that it was only right that she be there when he is laid to rest. The practical part of him agreed, adding that denying Eve the chance to be there would be denying her closure, rouse her fury, and make him a target.

"Okay."

_Onboard the Odyssey_

In the two hours it took everyone to pack, Eve had circled Boraz several times before nodding to him, avoided Virtutis, made sure she'd packed everything, then grabbed Irrlicht, the stuffed barn owl she occasionally slept with. Samantha had purchased the first weekend Eve spent on this planet, saying a stuffed animal was soft and fuzzy and she could hug it if she got scared or upset. At the time the Young Orici had thought the gesture strange. This woman was her enemy, and now she was trying to comfort her? As for the stuffed animal itself, it was a toy. Toys could not hug you back. Mama could. Eve shook herself and hid the owl in the suitcase she'd purloined from her sire.

Finally, after someone tracked down Vala, they boarded the Odyssey. Eve spent most of the trip alone, this time consulting the Book of Origin for funerary rites with a body. The odds of her grandmother knowing them were slim, which meant it was up to her.

According to the conversations she'd overheard, the Ori galaxy had collapsed into a state of civil war. The number of Priors had dwindled from a few thousand to roughly a hundred. Many were unable to accept the fact that the Ori were not gods, others were too afraid or too ashamed to acknowledge the wrongs they had committed, still others were aware the power of the Ori was now "up for grabs" as the Tau'ri said. They had taken their lives.

Those who were left could attempt to convey the truth about the Ori to others, but the transfer was imperfect and they could only brainwash one person at a time. Compared to the millions of Ori faithful, the Priors' task was a daunting one.

Eve snorted. There were too many faithful and too few traitors, and innocent people like Grandpa Tomin got caught between them.

"What should I do about them?" she asked. Irrlicht did not reply. Eve stared at it before muttering, "I don't know why I talk to you."

She slid off the bed and went to the bathroom, giving her reflection a long look. She looked just like her mother when she was eight, with one exception: her sire's eye color. Her sire's eyes in her mother's face. She wanted to break the mirror, and then maybe Daniel's leg, but then she'd need to use someone else's bathroom and Daniel might decide to turn the ship around. She settled for screaming into a pillow again, then rolling over and staring at the ceiling.

The journey back to Earth from the Supergate had taken three days without hyperspace travel. The journey with hyperspace travel lasted long enough. Eve had no way to tell time on this godsforsaken hunk of metal and wire, was too proud to ask someone for the time, and threw up upon exiting hyperspace.

"Eve? We're about to go through the Supergate." Daniel said.

"Joy." Was Eve's deadpan reply, as she kept a white-knuckled grip on the toilet bowl.

When the Odyssey entered the Supergate, Eve was jolted sideways. The oaths that flew from her mouth went unheard, but she decided then that she _loathed_ space travel. She remained sprawled on the floor until she felt Daniel's mind grow near. Fighting the urge to retch a second time, she drew herself up and went to meet him.

Daniel took in the sight of his daughter, dressed in black, face expressionless. Laying a tentative hand on her shoulder, he said, "I'm sorry."

Eve's expression softened before she slid his hand off her shoulder and walked away. He followed, occasionally giving directions but mostly remaining silent. When the pair reached the bridge, Eve stood next to Vala. She too was dressed in black, the color universally recognized as one of mourning, and she took the eight-year-old's hand in hers. Eve's free hand was clutching the Book of Origin, in the unlikely chance that Ver Isca did not have a copy. Daniel edged behind the two, planning to accompany them at least to the edge of the village. Sam, Cam, and Teal'c had volunteered to accompany them, but Eve pointed out they had no real relationship to the deceased. She added that the presence of SG-1, a group of warriors who stood on the front lines of the Ori crusade, would not be welcomed in a village of Ori faithful.

The trio was beamed down in sight of Ver Isca, exchanging hugs upon reaching the entrance of the village before parting ways. Daniel walked back to where he'd been beamed down, and Vala allowed Eve to take the lead. The entire village had dressed in muted colors, some barely glancing at the two newcomers. Those who did froze in shock. Tomin's widow had returned, a child in her company.

Vala could hear the whispers beginning and fought not to flinch.

"_That's not her child is it?"_

"_Of course not dear, the girl is too old to be her child."_

"_Then who's-"_

"_Her eyes! Look at her eyes!"_

"_The Young Orici?"_

Vala glanced toward Eve, who had drawn herself up to her full height and moved with regal bearing. Her eyes had indeed turned yellow, looking just like a younger Adria.

The two paused in the village center, watching the inhabitants mill about restlessly and nervously. When Eve finally said something, Vala jumped.

"Above the sun to you."

One older woman edged forward, her voice wavering with age, "Above the sun to you, Young Orici."

"Have you an Administrator?"

"We do."

"Send for them."

"At once Young Orici."

As a man was dispatched to find the Administrator, Vala leaned down and whispered, "Why do they call you that?"

"The Doci assumed I would take up my mother's mantle upon reaching maturity. From a more literal perspective, I am young, and I am capable of imparting knowledge to the masses."

Vala nodded as the Administrator approached, a middle-aged man with graying brown hair. He bowed at the waist.

"Rise." Eve commanded, and Vala bit back a smart remark. "Where is the body of my grandfather?"

"This way Young Orici."

Tomin's body was lying in state in what Vala assumed was a morgue.

"How did he get here?" she asked, having expected her husband to be in worse shape. He looked fine. Peaceful even.

"The two warriors who took his life ceased fire when he collapsed. Knowing it was not their place to judge him for his actions nor was it right to abuse his body, they brought him here themselves. He has been lying here for a few days."

Eve ordered his body washed and perfumed with sacred oils, dressed in the nicest clothing he owned, and his facial hair removed. Then she followed Vala to Tomin's house, left completely untouched, and wandered through it.

"Mama could have grown up here." Eve commented softly, running her hand along the stair rail.

"She could have." Vala agreed, ready to go back to Earth.

The pair spent the day dividing Tomin's possessions. Eve found a copy of the Book of Origin and laid it on Tomin's chest, laying his hands over it protectively. Vala didn't comment, but she did groan at the mention of a wake. Eve cuffed the back of her head and explained.

The development of the Ori galaxy being what it was, there were some who couldn't tell the difference between a coma and death. It was _said_ that the wake was held in case the deceased was still alive, the wake was _really_ held in case the dead person got up, without their soul, and tried to walk away, not unlike a zombie. She reassured a white-faced Vala that most bodies reanimated sometime within the first twenty-four hours.

As Tomin had been proven dead and not comatose by the nearest Prior, and had not risen and walked off in the interim, Eve concluded that the wake was mostly for the sake of tradition.

A simple supper of bread, sliced fruit, and water later, Vala and Eve sat with Tomin's body. The former thief got up more than once to use the bathroom, Eve didn't do that unless she absolutely had to. When dawn arrived, they changed their clothes, ate a simple breakfast, and Eve summoned the Administrator and the old woman who had introduced herself the day before.

As per Eve's orders, Prostration was cancelled. The funeral itself was held in Tomin's house, with the Administrator and the old woman as witnesses. Eve spoke, detailing the strength of Tomin's faith, how he had handled the challenges in his life, and that while he had succumbed to unbelief near the end, he was only human, and she had no doubts that the Ori would forgive him for what he had done. She concluded that everyone should try and imitate Tomin's faith, and that he was watching over them with the rest of the Ori.

Vala cocked her head. Eve could lay it on thick and pander to the crowd. Like Adria before her, Eve knew the score, knew how these people worked, and when she spoke they believed her. Getting out of here might be difficult.

The Administrator summoned his assistants to coat the body in sacred incense and another round of oils, and Eve set the body alight with a quick motion of her head. While the body burned, Eve sang. It wasn't some hymn ripped straight from the Book of Origin, but it wasn't from any culture Vala recognized.

When the body had burned to ashes, which may or may not have been helped along by Eve, an urn was brought forward. Tomin's position as Commander in the Ori army mandated a reddish brown urn, decorated with the names of battles he won and the planets he "saved." Eve had eschewed tradition and instead selected an urn that looked like white quartz. Carved upon it were Tomin's name, homeworld, birth and death dates, and the names of the three women in his life: Husband of Vala Mal Doran; Father of Adria the Orici; Grandfather of Eve the Young Orici

It was beautiful, it was expensive, and it was personal. Vala was impressed. The urn symbolized what Tomin meant to _Eve_, not what Tomin meant to the galaxy as a whole.

Vala carried the urn to the cemetery, Eve set it into the burial plot. She, Vala, the Administrator and the old woman filled in the little grave. The grave itself was marked with the same white mineral that the urn was carved from, and when Vala glanced at the mound of dirt she was surprised to see flowers resting there.

"Leave me!" she snapped, and the Administrator helped the old woman back to the village. Vala glanced toward them but hung back; Daniel would kill her if she left Eve alone.

"Eve-"

"GO!"

When Vala was gone, Eve let the tears go. She cried for the Ori, for what they let themselves become, she cried for the humans under their banner, she cried for every slain warrior born here, cried for her Grandpa Toman, cried for her Mama, but mostly she cried for herself. Now she had truly lost everything, faith, home, family, and was adrift in a sea of uncertainty. The Tau'ri were stupid and blind, jealous and paranoid. They saw her as a monster, a freak, or a lab rat, never as a person. Daniel took her in not out of love, but a sense of obligation. She was the last of her kind, the closest she could be to full Ori without Ascending, and unless she did something about the rage present in the Ori's Ascended plains, it would start to affect her too. Even as a mortal, Mama's link to the Ascended plains allowed the anger in, and it affected her judgment.

She felt something within her awaken, more powerful than her telekinesis, and she fled the city for a distant empty field. There she released the power with an unholy screech, a wave of heat billowing outward and a jet of fire punching through the clouds that threatened rain. The heat wave struck everything in its path but did no harm, eventually meeting on the other side of the planet and dissipating harmlessly. The fire was truly punishing, blasting all the way to the top of the atmosphere.

Sometime later, Eve felt some of the anger fade and crawled back to Grandpa Tomin's grave. There she cried herself to sleep.

Shortly before dusk, Vala returned to the cemetery. Eve was curled up next to the pile of dirt marking Tomin's grave. Frowning, she lifted her granddaughter and carried her back to the house.

Vala slept fitfully that night, waking up several times due to nightmares or bad memories. Before dawn she gave up, rising and dressing and foraging in the kitchen for something to eat. Finding a fat, soft fruit, she took it with her to the window so she could eat and watch the sunrise. As she ate she thought about Eve, sleeping fitfully upstairs, and wondered how she would perceive Daniel, SG-1, Earth, and most of all her. Now she was truly alone, the sole surviving member of an extinct race trapped on an ignorant planet in a hostile galaxy.

She shivered violently. Eve could walk a path much like hers, especially if she felt nobody cared.

Did she care? Okay, she wasn't thrilled with Eve's parents, but that wasn't the girl's fault. On the other, she and Eve were aware they would never truly love one another as family. The most she could expect was tolerance, at best concern, and that was what she could give in return.

The sound of footsteps on the stairs broke her concentration, and she saw a fruit floating across the room and into Eve's outstretched hand. She was pale, she was tired and she looked older.

_Oh dear._

"I cannot control it." Eve muttered, staring halfheartedly at the fruit.

"Not hungry?"

Eve shook her head. Having outgrown the dress she'd worn yesterday, she'd grabbed one of Vala's more conservative ones and slid it on. The sleeves and skirt had been shortened and the edges were smoking slightly, as if Eve had burned them to the length she wanted. Eve ate the fruit and went back to bed.

Vala could hear the beginning of Prostration, and knew that would be the best time to escape-er leave the village. She could already hear Daniel berating her for encouraging Eve to play up her divinity, but short of the Odyssey beaming them directly from the house, they might not get out of here without a fight.

Then there were Tomin's possessions. Eve had hinted that she had something in mind for everything, including the house itself, but she hadn't shared her plan with Vala. The only thing she'd said was that none of Tomin's things were staying in Ver Isca.

Vala shook herself and decided she needed to get in touch with Daniel. The length of Prostration ensured the village would be empty. No one would bother Eve, no one would suspect Vala had gone somewhere, and the Odyssey could beam her back into the house. Peering nervously out the door, she closed it behind her and set out at a brisk walk toward the edge of the village.

Waving her arms and shouting got the result she was looking for, and she was beamed aboard immediately.

"Hello Daniel."

"Where's Eve?"

"Asleep at Tomin's house. It was a small private ceremony but it was beautiful in its own way-"

"You left Eve alone?"

"Everyone in the village is at Prostration Daniel, no one's going to notice if I disappear for a few hours." She continued talking before he could interrupt, "Eve has a plan for Tomin's possessions but won't tell me what it is. She'll have to say something eventually but that's not important right now. Did a heat wave show up on the ship's sensors?"

"Yes, actually, it did. Why?" Sam inquired. Her eyes widened in sudden understanding, "Eve?"

Vala nodded.

"There was a pillar of fire about a mile away from the village. Was that Eve too?"

"It was. There's something else. She went to bed eight last night and woke up twelve."

Daniel groaned, "Oh _no_."

"So she'll need another new wardrobe, along with a few, feminine, things."

"Well since I'm still here Daniel, I suppose I'll explain puberty?" Sam asked, trying to lighten the mood. Daniel nodded slowly, the color draining from his face. Eve's rapid maturation, near-Ascended powers, and hormones were not a good combination.

Vala broke his train of thought, "Unless we play up Eve's position as the last of the Ori, the only way to escape is if we're beamed off the planet. And if we go that route I need a radio to contact you."

Daniel much preferred the second option. The longer they stayed here the more he feared Eve wouldn't want to go. He handed Vala a radio without protest while Sam handed her Eve's suitcase. The odds of anything fitting her were very small, but what else could they do?

They beamed Vala right into the house, her sight clearing in time to watch the door shut.

"Eve?"

"Vala?"

The preteen was wearing a new dress, emerald green and rather plain.

"Courtesy of the old woman down the street." Eve explained, smoothing the skirt.

"I brought this for you." Vala gestured to the suitcase.

"Thank you. Although I doubt I can wear any of it now."

Vala set the suitcase on the floor and glanced at Eve for a moment. Though she looked twelve, there were no obvious signs of puberty yet. She hoped they were back home before Eve experienced menarche.

"So, Tomin's possessions. What's the plan?"

Her answer was somehow doable yet impossible, but her expression gave Vala chills.

"She wants to do what?" Cam asked in disbelief.

"Distribute Tomin's possessions among the people of Ver Omesh-" Vala began, but was cut off.

"I heard that part, but she wants to take the _house_ too?"

Vala nodded.

"_How?_"

"She said it would take two Ori ships, but somehow the house can be lifted from the ground and carried to another location."

"Did she say why she wished to take the house?" Teal'c asked.

"Because she's mad at them." Vala replied.

"Mad at the villagers?" Daniel inquired.

"They treated Tomin poorly because of his injury and they don't deserve any kindness now that he's gone. She might spare the old woman though."

"Old woman?"

"From down the street. She made Eve a dress that actually fits her."

"One less thing to worry about."

"When does she want this done?"

"Tomorrow."

"What?" Daniel asked at the same time Sam commented, "Seems kinda soon doesn't it?"

"Maybe being here brings back bad memories. Her mother died here. Her mother died here at the hands of her enemies."

"Who then kidnapped her and dragged her to their godless homeworld." Cam concluded. He didn't blame the kid for wanting to leave.

"Where will she be getting the ships from though? All the Priors have been converted."

At this Vala shrugged. She wasn't sure either, though the looming thought that Eve could _create_ Priors, Priors loyal to her and the Ori, lingered in her mind.

Eve pulled away from her grandmother's mind, turning her attention to the old woman's latest offerings. Since she had expressed her gratitude and delight with the first dress, the old woman had made her a couple more, one sapphire blue, the other gold. The three should be enough to last until her return to Earth where Daniel would purchase yet another new wardrobe.

Though she was loathe to admit it, she'd become accustomed to Daniel's homeworld, especially the bathroom. The concept of a toilet had been a foreign one at first, and even now she occasionally forgot to flush, but overall it was a piece of technology she could approve of. The artificial lighting, ovens, computers, refrigerators, among other things, she could do without.

Why did they deprive themselves of sunlight? They were humans for gods' sakes; they needed sunlight as much as plants did!

The thought occurred to her then, that she was hiding from the sun as much as they were.

_I wonder if the roof is stable?_

Vala found her on the roof, apparently sunbathing . . . and napping. She took the time to stare, as Eve had changed more than just physical age. Her once dark skin had lightened, a result of living in a mountain without access to sunlight. Eve's skin wasn't porcelain-fair, but she wasn't as dark as she had been.

"Are you going to stand there or are you going to join me?"

Having nothing better to do, Vala joined Eve and quickly fell asleep.

When morning dawned, two Ori ships appeared on the horizon. Virtutis and Unum piloted a ship each, their brother Priors on board to help. Tomin's clothing fit into two trunks, stored along with his furniture in a pair of empty quarters on one of the Ori ships. Once everything was accounted for, Eve kept the villagers distracted by telling them how disappointed she was with their treatment of her grandfather while the house rose into the air behind her.

"I am taking this house. I will be giving it to someone far more deserving than any of you."

Daniel was grinding his teeth.

"Can she shame a mob or what?" Vala asked.

"Not bad for a tween." Cam replied.

After Eve had thoroughly shamed the villagers, she held out her hand to the old woman. The odd pair were beamed aboard the ship among stares of incredulity. Eve ignored them and gave Daniel a handful a baby teeth, all molars, that she had nearly choked on the previous morning.

Having nothing better to do with them and unwilling to throw them away, he slipped the teeth in his pocket.

_Maybe Carolyn could extract and sequence Eve's DNA . . ._

The three ships emerged over the planet Ver Omesh, where the two Ori ships placed the house just outside the village. It was destined to become a schoolhouse where the Priors could teach. Tomin's furniture and clothing were given to those Eve decided needed them most, in this case an older man who had literally nothing but had plenty of faith. And because Eve decided she hadn't bothered Daniel enough today, she dropped off the old woman from Ver Isca with the request they "look after each other." She told the Priors she was bringing together two lonely souls who could live out the rest of their days with a companion. SG-1 exchanged looks of confusion. Was Eve pandering to the beliefs of these people? Was she playing god despite her awareness that the Ori were Ascended beings?

Eve did not answer either way, instead indicating she was ready to leave.

**There's chapter 3. I think I need a Beta. If anyone is interested, send me a PM.**


End file.
